


Love Cherry Potion

by hosiexa



Series: loona at hogwarts — not connected universe [1]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, hyejoo is a lonely wolf, mention!hyewon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2020-09-01 11:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hosiexa/pseuds/hosiexa
Summary: The day Choi Yerim accidentally fell in love with Son Hyejoo in a potions class. And it's all Jiwoo's fault.





	1. Don't fall in love with an enchanted witch

**Author's Note:**

> hello, guys! as some of you might know, english is not my first language and you might as well find some mistakes in here. but i worked really hard in this story and i hope you like it. hyerim is not my fav shipp with olivia (my heart is half hyewon), but i think they are really cute.
> 
> also, i'm open to corrections, if any of you see any mistakes.
> 
> enjoy!

Olivia is good at potions. She is not some kind of exemplary student or anything — in fact, she often misses a few classes — but since Professor Park Bom replaced Choi Minho, her former and completely unbearable potions teacher, she is attending regularly to all the classes of the subject.

Another highlight of her day is that since the schedule changes and teachers, she no longer has to share class with the damn Gryffindor students. For Merlin, she was tired of seeing all that red and gold and their glorious screams after succeeding at something! Now there are cute little faces with yellow scarves all over the room, and that's ridiculously satisfying. She can stand the Hufflepuff a little more thanks to the two Huffles that always sit at her desk uninvited. Besides, the students in this house make the best cakes and sweets.

"Not like this, you fool. You have to mash the seed, not cut it," Olivia tells Kim Jiwoo. She has that low, hoarse tone that intimidates people, but Chuu, Jiwoo's nickname, has gotten used to it after almost seven years being Olivia's best friend.

"I'm trying, can't you see?!" The lower defends herself in exaggerated gestures, grimacing and struggling internally not to abandon the incomplete task.

"You're a child," Olivia rolls her eyes, pulling away as she gives up trying to help. "A child who only knows how to scream."

"A child who will have the love of her life in love with her at the end of this class," Chuu shows her her tongue.

"Is that what you intend to do? Forcing someone to like you?" Hyejoo raises her eyebrows. "Jungeun only talks to you to make fun of you, or of your american accent. That's when she remembers you even exist! You're trying to bite off more than you can chew, Jiwoo."

"Look, she already likes me, okay? She just didn't... realize it... yet," Jiwoo defends herself, ignoring her words, and if Hyejoo let herself care a little more, she would feel sorry for the girl. "That's why the love potion. It's just an incentive!"

Chuu sighs dully and rests her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. Her gaze is fixed on the pale face on the other side of the room: the Slytherin with straight brown hair. Her gradient eyes are fixed on the cauldron before her and she guides herself without interest in the books to complete the task. Her attitude delivers how much she does not want to be in this class.

"Sure. Best thing since sliced bread," Olivia jokes.

Everyone in the castle knows Kim Jungeun and her bad reputation well. As young as she is, she takes trouble anywhere she goes and takes pleasure in igniting the psychological peace of others. Rude is a dominant word when it comes to her personality and to uphold her unreachable pose, she always acts as if she despises those who have the courage to approach her and closes herself in her shell — she's not very different from Son Hyejoo about that.

Noticing Chuu's gaze on her, Jungeun rolls her eyes and shifts her position so that no small part of her face can be seen from Olivia's desk. Olivia, watching the scene, makes sure not to laugh as Vivi, the other nosy Hufflepuff, returns to the table with her spoons in her hands.

"Did I miss something?" She asks. Hyejoo looks at her light pink hair before answering. It's been two months now since Vivi made a mistake in her potion and ended her colored hair. Hyejoo notices that the color suits her.

"Just Chuu being a passionate muggle, no big deal," she replies and picks up the book to check the rest of the recipe. She has the impression that Jiwoo whispers something to Vivi, but her attention is on the Wiggenweld potion almost ready in front of her.

"I'm going to get the bezoar. I don't think I made the point yet," Chuu announces and walks away.

Hyejoo remains quiet with Vivi by her side, both focused on achieving the goal of the class: Professor Park Bom promised a vial of Felixs Felicis to who best prepare the potion. And Olivia would like some net luck being so close to N.E.W.T.s. She avoids looking the other way because she knows Vivi is not a competitor: Viian is as bad at Potions as Olivia is bad at Muggle Studies. And she is a disaster at Muggle Studies, for sure.

She adds Wiggentree's shell into the cauldron and moves clockwise. Hyejoo likes the bubbles the liquid makes when boiling and is pleased with herself when she sees it change color. She is about to call her teacher when she smells burnt.

"Vivi, what did you do this time?" She asks and takes out her own cauldron from the flames.

"It's not me!"

_Jiwoo!_, Hyejoo's subconscious mind reminds her and she looks panicked to the side, where Kim Jiwoo's cauldron is unsupervised and bubbles up most of all.

"Bloody hell," she curses. The Slytherin moves the older girl's potion without even knowing where Chuu is, and sighs because she is conscious enough to consult Jiwoo's book and finish the potion for her. Better than having anything exploding around her. "I'm going to kill that muggle dwarf!"

"Look! Professor Bom is coming," she hears Vivi's voice sound panicked.

"Do something!" She says. They are not allowed to make Amortentia and Olivia cannot imagine what Kim Taeyeon — the Slytherin Head Girl — would do to her. Hyejoo is thinking of a thousand different excuses to get rid of a punishment when, suddenly, there is a bang in the room and everyone is looking at Choi Yerim's face. Except Olivia, of course, who is trying to save and hide at the same time the forbidden potion.

She decides to spy on what's going on when she smells hot chocolate and old books, her favorite scents — curiosity: she doesn't know where they come from. Across the room, Choerry has her head down as she listens to the teacher's complaints. Her cheeks and forehead are black from the ashes from the explosion she caused.

"It seems to me that all Hufflepuff are a potion disaster," Kim Jungeun comments. She has a mean smile on her lips and her arms are crossed.

Olivia reads the paragraph of the book once more and puts the potion in a vial when she is sure it is ready. She feels Jiwoo's leaping footsteps before the girl stops beside her with a huge, hands-full smile. She does not look at her.

"Look, I managed to get some-"

"I couldn't care less!" She grunts in anger. "I am not responsible for your things, Jiwoo. Next time, be more careful about what you do!"

She hopes there won't be a next time, but she doesn't know. It's Jiwoo she's talking about. Olivia hands Chuu the vial aggressively and takes the opportunity to leave the room. It had been two long, tiring schedules.

(...)

Hyejoo is in the Great Hall, sitting at the Slytherin table. She is alone and away from her housemates, as expected. She's not a people person, she likes to be alone and enjoy the wind and the silence and, well, herself.

Dinner has just been served and that is why there are few people in the lounge. Some ghost spread that there would be no pudding at the banquet tonight and most witches saw no problem having dinner a little later since they would not have to fight over dessert. But Hyejoo wasn't a candy person either — only when it's cake — so she's there now.

"Have you forgiven me yet?" She hears Kim Jiwoo's voice and within seconds the girl is sitting beside her, her bangs almost touching her eyes and her cheeks full. There is an apple in her hand.

Olivia looks ahead. She is sitting in front of the Hufflepuff table and clearly sees the delicious colorful pies. "It depends. Are you going to share your piece of cake with me?"

Jiwoo laughs like a fool. "Accio cake," she says. An entire cake moves from the Hufflepuff table in front of Hyejoo. The brunette's pupils dilate. "I made it. The elves let me take some ingredients, but it was quite simple. Advantages of being a muggle born."

"Advantages of getting along with everyone," Olivia corrects her. "What about your plan? Did it work?"

Jiwoo's face turns red. "Well... I think it's too early to say that."

"What did you do with the potion, Jiwoo?"

"I put it in a cupcake. See? It's there in Choerry's hand. She will deliver it to Jungeun. She doesn't know what's in it, of course," Chuu points discreetly somewhere on the Hufflepuff table, where Jungeun, Choerry and JinSoul — Jungeun's best friend and roommate — are sitting. The cupcake is still in Choerry's hand.

"Since when are they friends?" Hyejoo frowns.

"They are not. Jungeun and Choerry are cousins, so Choerry told me. They're not that close, but Jungeun's parents make her take care of Choerry in here. You know what these rich, boring pureblood families are like," she complains, forgetting for a moment that Olivia also belongs to one of those rich, boring pureblood families. The smile is back on Jiwoo's lips. "Anyway, everything is under control. I planned every second."

"Oh, really? Did you plan that?" Olivia carries that comedic tone that makes Chuu look immediately at her home table to see no one but Choi Yerim devouring a cherry cupcake. Jungeun's cherry cupcake.

Olivia is laughing at Kim Jiwoo's overly open mouth and her eyes wide in disbelief. She watches Choerry fix her eyes on them and smile in a way Hyejoo has never seen before: ridiculously in love. Yerim gets up quickly and walks over to the girls.

"This is a disaster," Jiwoo mutters, and Hyejoo laughs so hard that she doesn't notice the fuss around her until she has trouble breathing.

"Hye!" Yerim almost moans. She has her eyes closed enjoying the plum scent that comes from Olivia's skin. "You are so, so beautiful!"

"Bloody hell?!"

It doesn't matter to Kim Jiwoo how much Hyejoo is murdering her with the look, with her red cheeks and almost palpable anger. She'll keep laughing until she can't breathe anymore.

(...)

It's ten o'clock at night and Olivia is in Hufflepuff's dorm room with a really annoyed Kim Jungeun, a shy, downcast Chuu and a Choi Yerim who won't let go of her foot. Literally.

After Jiwoo's burst of laughter in the Great Hall, it became clear that they needed help in solving the mess they got into. The mess _Chuu_ put them into, Hyejoo likes to remember. And Jungeun is not a dumb girl. She immediately understood that something had happened to her cousin as soon as she laid her eyes on all that girl's neediness for Olivia and that Olivia and Jiwoo had something to do with it.

And now there they are: in Jiwoo, Yerim and Vivi's room, trying to decide how to _undo_ the potion. Jiwoo is sitting on her own bed while Kim Jungeun shouts out her ugly words of indignation, and Choerry is looking at Olivia with her sparkling bright eyes. Hyejoo still doesn't understand why Yerim is in love with her and not with Jiwoo.

"I'm so, so sorry, Jungeun," says Chuu for what Hyejoo identifies as the seventh time. "It was never our intention to delight Yerim."

"It wasn't your intention to charm Yerim?" She's being ironic. "Then why the hell did she have a poisoned cupcake in her hands?! Given by you, I must specify."

"Lippie, you are overreacting. The cupcake was great. I'd love to have another wicked one," says Yerim, following Olivia and sitting beside her on the bed.

"Not ever!" Hyejoo screams.

"Olie, you have such beautiful eyes!" And she's dreaming with her attention locked on Hyejoo's face again. Hyejoo blushes.

"Someone do something!" She asks and tries for the thousandth time to break free of Choerry's grip. She had tried everything, but Yerim would not give up.

Jungeun assassinates Jiwoo with the look. She advances to the smaller girl and Chuu rushes to Olivia for help, screaming as she lurks in bed behind her friend's body. "It was not for her! It was not for her! It was not for her!" She shouts, pressing her eyelids, her little hands shaking.

"Who was it for?" Jungeun shouts back, not believing a word. But she stops to think as Jiwoo is unreachable behind both Hyejoo and Choerry's bodies — her cousin is firmly protecting her recent love. "Yerim said someone had done it for _me_," she closes her eyes as she understands what had happened, but then widens them in understanding what that means. "Oh! Oh, no, no! No, no! Olivia- I-I mean, I- You're not my type!"

"Thanks to Merlin I'm not!" Olivia responds, feeling disgusted by the thought of possibly being in love with her home partner. She shakes her head so that her hair covers her face, to keep Yerim from continuing to try to kiss her. She's getting sick of the girl's cherry aroma. "Chuu made the potion!"

Yerim suddenly puts her arms around Hyejoo again and squeezes her, their cheeks touching so much that their lips almost meet. "No! Olie is only mine! All mine! No Chuu!"

"I think I'm going to faint."

"Chuu?" Jungeun looks at her, totally ignoring Olivia's speech. She is judging the red girl so much. "I should have known."

Chuu wants to dig a hole in the ground to have somewhere to hide from the look her platonic love is giving her. She feels guilty that Hyejoo is going through this and feels like crying. She pulls away from the girls and huddles in her bed, tears falling before she covers her face with her arms.

"I'm so sorry!"

Hyejoo feels her heart ache as she hears her muggle friend's tearful voice and she tries to ignore Yerim's grip. "That could have been worse," she says, trying to lift the weight off her friend's shoulders. She finds herself forced to grab Choerry's waist to pull her face away from hers. It does not work, and Olivia notes that Jungeun's firm posture is more relaxed. She realizes that her housemate is bothered by Jiwoo's crying. "Say something!"

Jungeun rolls her eyes when she notices that Olivia is talking to her and crosses her arms. "Well, yes. It could have been worse, I suppose," she allows herself to say. "But I haven't swallowed that one yet! I can't have Yerim like... _this_ for the rest of the year."

"You're not alone at that," Olivia agrees as Choerry pushes her body back and makes her lie on her bed. She feels like a teddy bear, unable to move. "Somebody get her out of here!"

"Sleepover!" Choerry shouts excitedly. She doesn't realize that Hyejoo is widening her eyes in despair.

It is worth remembering: Olivia is not a people person, much less a touchs person. She was never touched all this time in her life. Her parents don't usually hug her and the only one who does that is Jiwoo, with her tight five-second hugs every year when she sees Hyejoo alone in the train cabin.

Hyejoo seeks Jiwoo's eyes. "Fix it. I am begging."

"I can't. I don't know how," the Hufflepuff admits, her eyes apologizing. "But I'm sure it will pass! The potion is strong, but it doesn't last forever."

"How long?" Jungeun asks. Her face is more serene. "We have to go home for the Christmas holidays."

"I don't know... maybe a week? Maybe two?"

"Blow me! Two weeks?!" Jiwoo's doubtful face makes Olivia think this might last even longer.

"Please. I don't know!" Even Jungeun convinces herself not to press Jiwoo further — secretly, she fears the girl will break — and Olivia thinks she might not be that heartless, but the thought drifts away quickly because soon enough Choerry's body is almost all over hers.

"I think I'll have to sleepover."

(...)

It's been a week since Choi Yerim is in love with Son Hyejoo and Hyejoo is almost having a heart attack. The Hufflepuff girl has been chasing her everywhere with boxes of chocolates, handmade gifts, and clogged picnic baskets of cakes and sandwiches. And Hyejoo... Well, Hyejoo is _hiding_. She's good at that. Whatever time and place she sees Yerim, she runs and hides and avoids going anywhere that smells like cherry, even if it means missing dinner and having to take Jiwoo to the Slytherin common room to help her with Transfiguration.

It's not that she doesn't like Yerim or dislikes her: she doesn't. But Olivia is certainly not used to having anyone but Jiwoo in her life and doesn't even know what to do. Of course she recognizes that Choerry is a beautiful, cute girl, and definitely a rare Hufflepuff piece, but if they weren't close before, why should they be now? Now that she's in her senior year at Hogwarts. Now that she's studying with everything she has to reach the average her parents expect to finally be free of any obligation her surname brings.

_If it was meant to be, it would have happened before_, Olivia's mind tells herself.

"I think you're scared," Chuu says suddenly. They are in Olivia's room reviewing the scrolls that Professor Choi Sooyoung asked for tomorrow afternoon.

"Excuse me?" Hyejoo looks up at Kim Jiwoo's tired face. She notices that Kim Hyunjin, one of the girls with whom she shares the room, is no longer there. She knows Jiwoo is only talking because they are alone now.

"About Choerry. Hye, she likes you."

"She's bewitched!"

"And? She had a certain crush on you before. Nothing compared to now, of course, but you can see this as an opportunity," Chuu interprets Hyejoo's lack of interest as an invitation for her to keep talking. "She is beautiful. And nothing prevents you from exploring the feeling she thinks she feels for you now. This can last until way after the potion's effect is gone."

"I will repeat it for you. She is bewitched, Jiwoo. She doesn't like me that way. And honestly? I do not love her either," Olivia isn't good at controlling her tone of voice, but she tries because she knows it's Jiwoo and Jiwoo is sensitive. She is convinced that this thing about her and Choerry is nothing and it won't last. She doesn't see the point of investing in it.

"You're afraid of liking her!" Jiwoo accuses. "You should at least try, Hye. Choerry is amazing, really."

"Can't you shut up?!" She's pissed off now. Olivia has been trying to not even think about it and ignore Choerry and the fact that she wants to marry Olivia at seventeen, and Jiwoo is throwing her plans into the trash with all this trying talk.

"Hye, please! I'm your only friend since our first year at Hogwarts and I've only seen you relate to one person since then. Do you remember?" She asks. Park Chaewon, a student witch from Beauxbaton who spent the entire fifth year exchanging at Hogwarts. Yes, Hyejoo does remember. Chaewon had that refreshing pineapple smell that Hye loved, but they didn't last long. "And nobody else after her. That's not fair, you have an opportunity in front of you."

Olivia wakes up from her daydream. "What do you want me to do? Yerim will wake up from this magical dream that your bloody potion made her have and will see that she is _not_ in love with me, that she will _not_ marry me, and, especially, that she is _not_ the one to blame if I break my heartbreak."

And that's it. Almost everything Chuu wanted to hear from her. Having someone liking her scares Hyejoo. She hates that Jiwoo knows her so well to know that. She was better off without all this love potion stuff.

"You could just... try. Give it a try, you know?" Chuu has those cute pedantic eyes that make Olivia wonder why they are friends. It's not fair to use this kind of blackmail. Olivia sighs. "Pretty please."

She knows she will regret it. She doesn't want to say it, but she does. "Okay."

(...)

Hyejoo is at the library reading a muggle novel that she promised Chuu to read when Choerry finds her. The Hufflepuff girl has a smile on her face and a book in her hands. Unexpectedly, the most remarkable thing about her is that her hair is totally _purple_. Choerry approaches and leans in to speak.

"Olie, can I make you company?" She asks.

Olivia doesn't take her eyes off the book, but responds. "Looks like there's enough room for you here."

After days and days, Yerim is happy that her attempt to get some time alone with Hyejoo is working. She sits next to the Slytherin girl, so close she can smell Olivia's sweet aroma, and analyzes her for a second. "_You get so alone at times that it just makes sense_? What kind of book is this?"

Yerim is not the judgmental type, and that is why Olivia doesn't mind paying attention to her tone. The Choi's voice can't sound mean at any ocasion.

"It's poetry. Chuu chose it for me," she replies and goes to the next page. "Your hair looks beautiful."

"You haven't even looked at me yet," says Yerim, and seconds later Hyejoo's eyes are fixed on hers. She likes the feeling of being watched by Olivia, it makes her feel noticed and dear by the girl. She wants it so bad.

"Your hair looks beautiful," Hyejoo says so sure Yerim can see how much she means that. She sees the purple in her eyes and knows that the potion's effect isn't gone yet. "Is my compliment valid now?"

"Thank you," her cheeks are ridiculously red when she speaks, and Olivia's gaze drifts to her lips before returning to the book. She feels even warmer.

"What are you reading?" Yerim is surprised that the question came straight out of Hyejoo's mouth of her own accord.

"It's called _Jane Eyre_. It's about an orphan girl who 'is forced to battle against the demands of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order', as the blurb says," she replies.

"All right, darling?"

"Sorry, what?" When Hyejoo looks at her again, her face expressionless, Yerim feels embarrassed.

"What do you think about it? Are you enjoying?"

"Oh... right," Choerry laughs at herself. Olivia thinks this is adorable, but she doesn't say it. "I'm enjoying my reading. I personally love Charlotte Brontë. She was a witch, did you know that? But she was so in love with the muggle world that she dedicated her life writing about them and for them."

"Sounds good," Olivia has never heard of Charlotte Brontë, but the way Yerim's face brightens when she talks about the author makes her want to read something by her. She no longer knows how to proceed the conversation, but she is fighting her protective instincts that tell her to go to her bedroom and lock herself in.

"Can you read something to me?" Choerry is referring to Hyejoo's book, and Hyejoo gives her a straight answer. She clears her throat and starts.

> "My father had little sayings which he mostly shared  
during dinner sessions; food made him think of survival:  
'Succeed or suck eggs. . .'  
'The early bird gets the worm. . .'  
'Early to bed and early to rise makes a man (etc.). . .'  
'Anybody who wants to can make it in America. . .'  
'God takes care of those who (etc.). . .'
> 
> I had no particular idea who he was talking  
to, and personally I thought him a  
crazed and stupid brute.
> 
> But my mother always interspersed these  
sessions with: 'Henry, listen to your  
father.'
> 
> At that age I didn't have any other  
choice,  
but as the food went down with the  
sayings  
the appetite and the digestion went  
along with them.
> 
> It seemed to me that I had never met  
another person on earth  
as discouraging to my happiness  
as my father.
> 
> And it appeared that I had  
the same effect upon  
him.
> 
> 'You are a bum,' he told me, 'And you'll  
always be a bum!'
> 
> And I thought, if being a bum is to be the  
opposite of what this son-of-a-bitch  
is, then that's what I'm going to  
be.
> 
> And it's too bad he's been dead  
so long  
for now he can't see  
how beautifully I've succeeded  
at  
that."

When Olivia finishes, there is a dramatic break to the look they share. Olivia is not a very expressive person and Choerry knows it, but even she realizes that there is more to that poem than the girl is saying. Olivia's eyes are proof of that: they scream feeling and loneliness and memories, so many memories — so much that that girl who always drives away everyone hides. However, she is afraid to invade the Slytherin girl's privacy and frighten her away from her again. Choerry can't risk it.

"This is... intense," Choerry says. "Whose did you say it was?"

"I did not," Hyejoo smiles for the first time in that conversation. It's little, but the fragile line is still there on her lips. "It's Buckowski. Charles Buckowski. It's Jiwoo's favorite."

"Did she make you read it?"

"Perhaps."

"And are you enjoying it?" Yerim's pupils are dilated, she's five inches away from Olivia's face.

"Perhaps."

Olivia leans her body back as Yerim pushes hers forward. She is definitely not ready for _that_ kind of contact yet. But she finds her way out soon enough with a very useful idea.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade over the weekend?" She asks.

"Oh, yeah. I must. I owe a good supply of candy to some people. You know... Hufflepluff tends to make several friendly deals."

"Would you like to go with me?"

Yerim's smile is so immediate and big that Olivia has fun watching. The Hufflepuff girl puts her arms around her in one more of her surprise and super tight hugs. Honestly, Hyejoo is getting used to it. Yerim is a caring person who likes to _touch_ — a lot. She still doesn't know what to do about it, but she feels a lot less uncomfortable now.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Oh Lord," Hyejoo mutters. "Good. Hmm... Yerim... You can let me go now."

Her words have no effect and Choerry squeezes her even more. She kisses Hyejoo's cheek for more than ten seconds — and Hyejoo counts them all in her inner despair that comes with the contact — and then the Hufflepuff girl lets her go. Yerim holds her own hands in each other and has that happy childlike look, as if she had won a new toy. She is still too close from Olivia.

"It will be wonderful!" She almost screams.

Hyejoo takes advantage of the cue to pick up her book and get up with a tender look. "I will meet you in front of The Three Broomsticks. At 3pm. Have a good night, Yerim," Olivia bows slightly to Choerry and steps out hurriedly, giving no time for the other girl to say goodbye.

She has a burning face when she arrives at the Slytherin dorm. Her heart is beating fast. She feels the power of adrenaline for taking charge of her actions. It feels nice.

(...)

"You called her out?!" Jiwoo's scream bothers Hyejoo's ears. Hyunjin's bored moan in the next bed makes Olivia think that maybe her room isn't the best place to talk about this kind of thing. Slytherin people can be mean. And impatient.

"Don't make it bigger than it really is," she asks. She is standing looking for something to use on her date with Yerim. "Didn't you tell me to do just that?"

"Yes, but... I didn't think you were actually going to do it!" Chuu justifies herself.

"Argh," Hyunjin moans again. She gets up and puts on her shoes lazily. "I'm leaking out of here," and Hyejoo's and Jiwoo's eyes follow her until she's shut the door in a loud thud.

"You need a new roommate," Jiwoo mutters.

"Tell me about it."

Olivia looks back because Chuu is not saying anything anymore, but suddenly the shorter girl's arms are around her shoulders, her chin on her neck. This time, Olivia squeezes Chuu's waist back.

"I promised you I would try, didn't I?" Hyejoo is getting soft, and she knows that, but she's also starting to think that it might not be a bad thing.

Chuu feels her heart heat up. "Yes, you did. And I'm proud of you. And happy too!"

"Thanks, kiddo."

"I'm older than you, Hye. And don't even tell me that two months is nothing because it is clearly something," Jiwoo remembers and Hyejoo knows she's rolling her eyes. "Even if you make me very angry sometimes, you can always count on me. For anything. Try to remember that, okay?"

They break the hug and Chuu attacks Hyejoo's cheeks, squeezing them. Hyejoo has to slap her friend in the arms to get her away. "That's enough for today, little one."

Jiwoo and Hyejoo's friendship is stronger than Hyejoo likes to admit, and more importantly as well. She doubts that anyone will occupy such a special place in her life as that long-haired redheaded girl — even if the someone is Choi Yerim. Their story is as old as Olivia's stay at Hogwarts and Jiwoo is why Olivia isn't completely broken right now. She is her stone. She's everything Olivia has. She's her only family and source of love: it doesn't matter if she denies it or not.

"I am not that little, Son Hyejoo!"

"I'm easy, my child."

(...)

It's not such a cold day — in fact, the sun is shining bright in the sky and leaving a nice feeling in the surroundings even if it snowed two days ago and the ground is still a little white —, but it's only two weeks before Christmas and Olivia is pretty warm. She is not a fan of the freezing sensation on her skin, so she is wearing beige cargo pants, a gray blouse, a black sweater and a black jacket tied at the waist.

She is standing in front of The Three Broomsticks at 3pm, as agreed, and her anxiety is making her hands sweat. "_Just act like yourself,_" Jiwoo advised her the night before, just before bed, when Hyejoo asked her what she should do and say. And then Hufflepuff added with a funny face: "_Actually, thinking about it, be a little nicer._"

So Hyejoo is nervous. Not that she's letting it show.

She sees Kim Jungeun across the street, in her heaps of black clothes and her choker that makes her look upscale gothic. She is accompanied by Jung Jinsol and the Ravenclaw Ha Sooyoung. Olivia had heard something about JinSoul going out with that Yves girl. She didn't care enough to ask, though. But she cares who Jiwoo loves, and that person is the unreachable Kim with beautiful lips. She worries that her friend will get hurt badly.

Jungeun catches her eyes as she crosses the street and lets her friends enter the bar alone. She gives Hyejoo a boring look.

"Stop waffling about. What is it, Son?"

Olivia sighs and bites her bottom lip. She doesn't want to let the words out, but she does. "She's there. And she's going to ask you out. Do not break her heart that much. It's a personal request, Kim."

The girl doesn't show much reaction, but her lips are parted and there's something in her eyes that means something to Olivia.

"Kim Lip! Come on in! It's monkeys outside!"JinSoul is at the door calling for her friend. She smiles and Jungeun walks away from Olivia, entering The Three Broomsticks in reluctant steps.

"Olie!" Olivia hears the excited voice scream behind her. She turns around and her body is struck by Choi Yerim's body and, despite the sudden contact, Hyejoo likes the warmth that Choerry carries. She is wearing a flowery white dress, black tights and a wool shirt. There's a gray beret on her head and Hyejoo likes the way her hair falls on her big cheeks. "It's cold out here! Let's go in, come on!" Choerry grabs Olivia's hand and pulls her to the bar door, but the Slytherin is stronger and makes her stay where she is.

"It's cold, indeed. But I was thinking of visiting this new bookstore. Chuu commented that you enjoyed reading too," she explains and Choerry smiles, getting closer.

"Brilliant! You are so attentive, Olie!"

Hyejoo ignores her own flushed cheeks and allows Choerry to hold her hand as they walk to the next street. She notes that this is the first time she has been holding hands with anyone, although Yerim has already clasped their hands before. This is the first time she _likes_ it.

Olivia enters Honey And Cinnamon with a shy smile on her lips.

Honey And Cinnamon is a bookstore near to The Three Broomsticks that opened just over two weeks ago. The owner is the muggle-born Kim Minju, Jiwoo's aunt, coincidentally, and Olivia loves the place since she first stepped in it, dragged by her best friend. It has shelves full of wizardry and muggles books and vinyl records and all that cool stuff that doesn't belong in the wizarding world.

It's a special place for her that she wants to share with Choerry, and this is something new that makes her stomach turn over.

"Aw, it's so warm in here," says Yerim as soon as the door closes behind them. The noise attracts the attention of the thirty-three-year-old woman with long, manicured hair. She approaches the girls and grins when she sees Hyejoo.

"Olivia! It's so good to see you again!" Her hug makes Choerry's hand pull away. "And you brought a friend. What's your name, honey?"

Choerry smiles back before answering. "Choi Yerim, Miss!"

"Well, any friend of Olivia's is my friend too," Minju sounds happy enough to make Choerry's jealousy go away. "So... what's the craic, my ladies? May i help you?"

"You're not British," this is clear in the same american accent Minju and Chuu have, but Yerim seems to have only been aware of that at the moment, seeing the woman using a UK expression.

"Very well pointed out, dear. You have good ears! I am from my beautiful Texas-"

"We're just passing through, Minju. Yerim needed to know the store," Olivia interrupts, her arm encircling Yerim's waist.

Minju sighs with satisfaction. "That's great! Oh, and in this case, be my guest! Feel free to call me if you need anything," the woman walks away with a — still — bright face and Olivia looks at Yerim.

"Come on. You will like this," she drags the Hufflepuff to the right wall, where there are shelves and shelves with thin rectangular plastic boxes.

"Blow me! Are they movies?!" Choerry's eyes are wide and her body's unrestrained movements tell how excited she is.

"Chuu told me that you enjoyed this muggle activity. She made me watch a movie with her once too, and it wasn't such a bad experience. I thought perhaps we could watch one together."

"Olie! That would be such a dream! It will be lovely!" Yerim gets too close again and this time Hyejoo allows it. The girl kisses Hyejoo's cheek and squeezes her hand. "And will you let me choose?"

Olive shrugs. "Whatever you choose, I suppose."

She shouldn't have said that, because now she's in Honey And Cinnamon's TV room with Yerim and a romance movie that makes Hyejoo roll her eyes just by looking at the cover.

"Again, what's the name of the movie?" She asks and sits on the wide couch. The door is closed, an advantage of being close to Minju, and there are sweets scattered around Olivia. The room light is off. Yerim is trying to put the CD into the DVD player, the television screen is blue while waiting for the next command.

She only responds when she can finally get the movie to play. "It's Call Me By Your Name. It sounds good."

"It better be."

"I have incredible taste for everything, Son Hyejoo," Choerry defends herself, joining Olivia on the couch. She leans against the black-haired girl's body and Hyejoo welcomes her into her arms.

"You're in a date with me. It can't be true."

Despite hitting Hyejoo's arm for saying that, Choi Yerim smiles.

As the movie goes on, their bodies get closer until Olivia can feel Yerim's breath on her neck, and she finds that her date does have a great taste for movies, after all. In addition to a very soft skin and her cherry smell that became pleasant. They share a sweet or two, not mattering if the chocolate is molasses with each other's saliva, and Choerry eats all the others by herself. Olivia doesn't like sweets so much, and besides, she's focused on her task. She is in love with this unconventional and intriguing story that makes her heart flutter as much as Choerry, and can't wait for the end of it. But when it finally comes, there is no magic, but a very very angry Son Hyejoo.

"How can they _not_ end up together?! What's the point of the whole movie?! They just threw the whole development of their relationship in the trash! I hated it! Hated it, hated it, hated it! You have the worst taste possible for movies, Choi Yerim, and you'll never choose another one while I'm on your date!" She's standing pacing as she gestures with her arms and she's really pissed off.

"Is that why there's a tear on your cheek, Olie?" Choerry jokes, but her tone is calm and affectionate. This makes Hyejoo even more energetic in her criticism.

"Don't come to em with this one, Choerry. We'll never watch a movie like this again!"

The Hufflepuff girl gets up and approaches Olivia. She unfolds Hyejoo's firm arms and plays with the collar of her sweater as if she wants something more. And she does. "You liked it. Confess it to me," she asks, but Hyejoo's scowl is still there. "Or to herself, at least."

"Not a chance."

Olivia is beginning to be drawn to the purple streaks in Yerim's eyes, and their faces slowly approach. It's something she imagined would happen, but it wasn't planned. Her blood moves very fast and her body takes the lead in her actions. Olivia grabs Yerim's waist and shifts, leaving the purple hair girl with her back against the wall. Yerim is surprised, but she wants it as much as the magic inside her makes her want it. Maybe even more.

Their lips meet when Choerry's hands are on Olivia's shoulders, and Olivia feels a sudden comfort as this deeper contact with Yerim drives her insane. She didn't expect that. But she is _definitely_ ready.

Her mouth moves more intensely and she can feel how much Choerry is shivering with the new sensations. It's all so curious. She likes it and doesn't want to stop. Hyejoo is addicted to Yerim's lips and how much they match hers, moving so synchronously and precisely, making her hot and sweat those annoying icy drops that run down her neck.

Oh, lord! The neck. Hyejoo searches Yerim's neck with her tongue. She loves the taste of Hufflepuff's skin and loves the brutality with which Choerry is pulling her hair now and pulling her bodies even closer, as if that was possible.

"Olivia?" Choerry kind of moans, kind of asks.

Olivia leaves her sucks to look straight at the girl. She wants to see the need exposed on her face; wants to see the purple in her eyes that say she belongs to Olivia. The purple that could suddenly make her give up all her limits and embark on that madness with that sweet girl. _She doesn't find it. _There is just a beautiful dark brown coloring the white of Choerry. No purple.

Suddenly, there's no Hyejoo there too, and an excited and confused Choerry is left alone.

(...)

It's been a while now since Olivia and Yerim had their first date and things couldn't be worse for Hye. She missed every Potions and Astronomy class of the week and didn't even eat a meal outside her room. The elves are helping her with this by letting her eat before or after mealtimes directly in the kitchen. She found that they are very romantic and a great company while studying Transfiguration because their magic is powerful and precise. And they are patient, although she is quite smart.

She has been leaving Jiwoo out too. Olivia has not been seen anywhere in the school by people other than Slytherin or Gryffindor — the houses with whom she has to share other classrooms. Her feelings extend from shame to longing, a hope thrown in the trash and a small broken heart. She doesn't want to talk about it, so Olivia has silenced Chuu and got scared every time she sees a yellow-striped sweater through the school corridor.

She is confused and alone and, for the first time, she is sad for being alone. Having had such close contact with a true human, carnal and sentimental relationship — Jiwoo doesn't count on this occasion — and then getting back to her lonely wolf routine... is expected to whoever is to feel this way.

But Hyejoo is lying in her own bed reading Bukowski's missing pages when Kim Jungeun walks through the open door. She catches Hyejoo's attention and carries a dark blue briefcase that throws on the girl's bed.

"Jiwoo asked me to give you this," she explains. Hyejoo nods and picks up the folder. Although she has severed relationships with everyone, she is still a good friend and has passed on everything she knows about Transfiguration to that folder. She hopes Jiwoo did a good job on her first assessment. "Ya!" The girl calls again. Hyejoo expects her to leave after the task is completed, but she doesn't. She's there, standing with her arms crossed looking at Hye. "Are you going to be like this forever?"

"You don't care for what I do."

"I certainly do not," she leans her back against the wall by the door. "But a weird and very annoying kid named Choi Yerim unfortunately does."

She ruined everything. She really did. And she knows that. She fucked up. But Hyejoo is too cowardly to do anything about it that makes her leave her comfort zone. She is not brave enough to get up and run to Hufflepuff's common room and tell Yerim she's in love because she knows Yerim isn't. She may like Hyejoo and even have a crush on her, but she's not _in love_. Hyejoo doesn't want to face this.

Jungeun understands how Olivia feels. She is not good at expressing herself or being nice to people, but a little empathy is something for someone like her. "Look, you don't have to lock yourself out of the world just because you like someone. Just get up, brush your teeth and find Yerim because she-"

"Get out," Hyejoo interrupts her. Her book and folder are set aside and she covers her entire body with the warm, thick blanket.

After a few minutes in silence, Hyejoo thinks Jungeun is gone, but the girl's angry voice is back. "Do you know what? At least Kim Jiwoo _does_ something. She stands up and speaks about her feeling and her wishes. It doesn't matter if she's being a completely dumb, she keeps talking! But you... you are way worse than her in a bad fucked way. You are all mouth and no trousers, Son Hyejoo."

Hyejoo hears the bedroom door slam loudly and no matter how upset people are about her — no matter how much she hates herself. She is standing there in that shell as she cries silently, missing the picnic basket Choi Yerim, who holds her for more than twenty seconds and has the softest lips in the world.

(...)

It's Christmas Eve and Olivia is in her big house, in her big room. Her parents went out to enjoy the night at a party at the mansion of one of their very important friends and acquaintances in the wizarding world. They didn't even ask if she wanted to go — but it doesn't matter because she doesn't want to. Olivia is pleased enough at her desk writing a letter of apology to Kim Jiwoo while Black, her white owl, is pecking another of her pillows.

There is only regret in your heart now. And pain — but she's slightly used to this one.

"Hyejoo, my child, will you want to have dinner now?" Tiver asks. He is the Elf who has served the Son family for two decades and was responsible for much of Hyejoo's upbringing, as her parents were too busy honoring the family's last name.

She doesn't care that he comes into her room because he always knows when she's in a good time or not. She actually likes it when the little bald guy dressed in that dark and funny suit offers her tea punctually at 8pm. But it's 10pm and she declined the tea, as did all other food and drink options.

"I'm not hungry, Tiver. But please leave something for me on the table. I might be hungry later," she asks as she takes her eyes off the paper. "And Tiver," the elf looks back, his big eyes open to her. "Go to sleep."

He smiles. "Have a good night, my child."

Tiver leaves the room and Olivia takes a deep breath. She runs her hands over her face and rubs her eyes lazily. There is a white space in her mind that makes her think too much. She also has an unbearable headache and writing is not helping. The girl enters the bathroom and takes a cold shower. She feels better after that, and spends some time looking at herself in the mirror.

Olivia has never cared much about her appearance, although she's a very pretty girl. She never wore makeup and short skirts and fancy clothes and expensive and unusual haircuts. In fact, she hides in her long trousers and blouses and sweaters when she is not wearing Hogwarts uniform, and her hair is almost always stuck or messy. Tiver have to choose what she has to wear when there are special events where her parents demand her, but he has a good taste so that's fine.

She decides she doesn't hate what's outside, only what's inside.

It's 11pm when she comes down the stairs in her black robe and blue slippers. Olivia searches the plate on the table and finds chocolate chip cookies and a glass of warm milk. She smiles in thanks, but then the doorbell rings and her eyebrows rise.

She swallows a good piece of cookie and walks to the door. She is sure it's not her parents, for they would not ring the bell and not arrive anytime soon. "Accio wand," she conjures. The weirdest thing about her night is seeing Kim Jungeun on the polished velvet rug looking up to watch the entrance to Hyejoo's big, luxurious house.

"You have a beautiful house," she says, but looks at Olivia and makes a face of boredom. She looks sick. "Oh, lord. Why do you have to be such a fancy and traditional british kid? My eyes hurt!"

“What are you doing here?” She asks. Jungeun walks past her and enters the house, head raised to explore every dazzling corner of the interior.

"It's Christmas Eve and it turns out my family is celebrating the holiday in muggle fashion, with that big tree, the supper full and the fat, ugly old man dressed in red and all that," she says.

"And what do I have to do with it?"

Jungeun rushes to the plate of cookies as soon as she sees it. She picks up two and starts eating. “Thanks to Merlin! My sister is on a vegan diet and she is responsible for tonight's candy. I'm afraid of what to expect.”

Olivia raises her eyebrows at Jungeun, as confused as before, and ignores the clear judgment in the invader's eyes. "You know I'm a vegetarian, right?"

“Argh, let me be!” She finishes the snack and wipes her hands on her black overcoat. Olivia can see the red fabric of the shimmering dress on her body. She also notices that Jungeun is wearing heels. "You'll have to change."

"Forgive me?"

“Well, we're going to exchange gifts and I found out earlier today that one is missing from me. You will help me with that. But not like_ this_, of course,” Jungeun wiggles her wand and mumbles a few words and suddenly Hyejoo is wearing pantyhose, sneakers and a black dress with a white waistband that leaves her arms bare — it's a piece that was on her wardrobe a few floors above. Her hair is combed.

“What the- What makes you think I want to help you?! You cannot come to my house like this and-”

“For Merlin’s sake. Shut the fuck up! It is not like you have something better to do, do you?” Olivia grunts because she knows Jungeun is right. "Come on."

Jungeun offers her hand to her. Hyejoo thinks about it for five seconds before using magic to leave a note for Tiver. She takes Jungeun's hand and they apparate somewhere Hye doesn't know. To a room: It's a colorful and attractive room, the bed has a canopy and silk curtains and paintings on the walls — most of them have Jungeun's face.

"What did you say about me being fancy, traditional and British?" Olivia teases.

“Don't even start!”

“Hyejoo?” The voice that calls her is thin and sweet and carries a tone of surprise. She has known this voice for seven years. She has been the best friend of this voice for seven years.

“Jiwoo?” Kim Jiwoo gets out of the bed with a hairbrush in her hand. Her hair is meticulously straight and behind her ears. Olivia is sure those clothes — the gray sweatpants and the blue shirt — don't belong to her. But Chuu carries a huge smile and hugs Olivia at the first opportunity. "Hey," Olivia says softly, close to her friend's ear. She is surprised. "What is she doing here?"

Jungeun ignores Olivia's gaze and hugs little Chuu's waist as they break the hug. “My grandmother was very excited to meet my new girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” She stares at Jiwoo more surprised than ever. "When did this happen?!"

“Well…” Even Jiwoo's ears turn red. “You kind of weren't talking to me, remember?” Hyejoo is sorry about that, although Jiwoo has no resentment. “But, Hye, everything is being awesome! My parents have let me spend the entire holiday here and Jungeun's parents are doing everything in the nuggle way. Her father is even dressed as Santa!”

“Jiwoo! That's so-”

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is good. But now you have something you need to work out because I didn't really buy a gift,” Jungeun grabs Olivia's wrist and drags her out of the room into the hallway. Chuu follows them and they stop in front of a dark, decorated door that definitely has too much information. Jungeun hits the wood three times with no delicacy. "Yerim, open that door."

A name and Olivia's eyes widen and her heart is beating too fast. She looks for Jiwoo and the shorter one can see the panic inside Hyejoo, her hands already sweating and her shoulders shaking. Herr breathing is ragged.

“What the- What have you done? Are you out of your plot? I am not- I am not goin to- That's a huge disaster! I shouldn't be here and you-”

“Hey, hey, hey! Cross that bridge when you come to it, Son! Calm down, witch,” Jungeun interrupts Hyejoo's hushed whispers and squeezes her arms, focusing the girl's gaze on her. “Look, you asked me not to hurt Jiwoo. And I did not. It's your turn to return the favor, Son.”

“She likes you, Hye,” Chuu looks surprised by the new girlfriend's confession, but she remains focused on her best friend. “Her mind was not erased by the potion. She has all the moments you shared inside. And she misses you, really. She has been sad because she doesn't understand your actions. Just show her you care.”

Hyejoo swallows hard and looks at Jungeun. She looks at her as a friend because now Jungeun is acting like one, and her shoulders relax with one of her older grips.

“Are you ready?” Jungeun asks.

“Yes,” Hyejoo whispers, but she's sure and Jungeun knocks on the door even harder.

"Choi Yerim!"

“Leave me alone!” Yerim screams back.

“I brought your gift, you idiot. Open at once!”

“You will not fool me! I know you forgot to buy my gift and honestly I don't want it! I'm going to spend all night here in my room and you can't do anything about it!”

"She's just being dramatic, I swear," Chuu says. She's almost laughing while Jungeun is almost having a heart attack.

“Stop beating around the bush and open this bloody door, Choi Yerim! Or I swear on my mother's name that I will throw your bloody present at the river and you will never see her again!”

There is a quiet pause and they hear the footsteps from inside the room approaching the door. “Her?” Choi Yerim's head appears in the small open space of the door and she screams when she finds the straight black hair. "Olie?!"

Choerry runs into her actions and grabs Hyejoo's body barely believing in what her eyes see. Hyejoo freezes until the warmth of Yerim's breath is touching her skin, bringing her back to reality, and she grabs Choerry back with all the affection she has.

"Hello," she breathes heavily and rests her face on the girl's body. She is so allied that Yerim doesn't hate her. She missed this weird, sweet, needy girl so much that she made her love the smell of the one fruit she hates. "Hello," she repeats. "I'm here. I may be your present.”

“So… Merry Christmas,” Jungeun wishes, feeling awkward about witnessing such an intimate scene, and disappears with Jiwoo seconds later. It doesn't matter because neither girl paid attention to her.

“Will you stay?” Choerry asks. She's looking right through Hyejoo's eyes with her brown — no purple — pearls. They are still hugging, but their faces are facing each other.

“As long as you want me to,” Hyejoo replies, and she lets her cheeks flush because Yerim's happy smile makes her happy too.

"I need to tell you something... I-I must," the certainty in the Hufflepuff's voice makes the Slytherin girl wince. Her heart stops because she's afraid again. “I think I'm in love with you.”

There's no purple there — she makes a point of checking for a second time. The adrenaline is alive inside her and it moves fast. Olivia kisses her, and everything else goes blank.


	2. Son Hyejoo fell in love with an enchanted witch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO, BABES! i know, i wasn't supposed to be here because, technically, this story is a oneshot. but it happens that inspiration came and a few people was already asking for a continuation so here i am.
> 
> i took SO LONG to write this chapter (21 pages on google docs, bro), you guys have no idea. the first one took me one month and a week, but this one? i'm writing it since christmas. CHRISTMAS! I do have crises of lack of inspiration (don't know if any of you also have those), so let's blame them. 
> 
> i feel the need to warn you all about some things, ok? there's no description of a panic attack or anything, but there's a mention, like "she had a panic attack". literally it. I'll be talking about depression and anxiety, like a doctor explaining what they are, but nothing more. however, if you are sensitive to this issue, please skip the scene. it will be very obvious, they will be in a hospital. so please take care. 
> 
> anyway, enjoy your reading! hope you like it!

They are at the living room. It's a Saturday afternoon and  _ Blue Moon _ by Billie Holiday is playing. It's raining outside — the raindrops can be seen through the window glass — and that's why their picnic with Jungeun and Jiwoo had to settle for dinner. 

Choi Yerim is laying on the couch overthinking again, her head is in Hyejoo's lap and the girl is stroking her hair with one hand while holding her book with the other. It's some poetry non-magical book and she looks so concentrated and calmed that Yerim barely notices her breathing. 

She cannot hold it anymore.

"Do you like me?" 

It is so random that Hyejoo is not even sure if she heard it right. She takes a second to look at her and raises her eyebrows. "What?"

"I asked: do you like me?" She repeats and Hyejoo bites her own tongue not to say something evil. If it was in other times, she would definitely have said it. 

"Yerim, you are my girlfriend. We're together for almost five years now. You realize that, don't you?"

"I know and that's really exciting... But do you?" 

Yerim sits down correctly when her girlfriend rolls her eyes. "Choerry, wake up. We just bought a house. We  _ live _ together." 

"You're not answering my question."

"And I'm not going to. This is ridiculous," she cannot believe Yerim is being serious about this. It is, perhaps, the most nonsense thing she has ever said, and Yerim has already said many of those.

"So I'm ridiculous?!"

"That is not what I said!" Ok, so now Hyejoo is absolutely scared to say a word. She leaves her book on the sofa arm and tries to take Yerim's hand, but she keeps it away. 

"But that's what you thought!" She accuses. 

"No, it is not! Do not talk tosh!" She doesn't let the purple-haired girl shouts back. "Can you please explain me what is going one here? Because I assure you: I have not a clue." 

"Forget it!" Choerry strides out of the room; angry, mad, leaving Hyejoo there with no idea of what just happened. 

"What the fuck..." The brunette whispers.

(...)

The dinner happens in Chuu's place because: one, she's the only one who can actually cook, and two, she chose to keep some of her muggle things and customs, so her apartment is really nice. Yerim is by her side, helping her to finish dinner by chopping some vegetables while Chuu is careful not to let anything burn. Hyejoo, on the other hand, shares the little sofa with Jungeun, her head on the blond's shoulder, watching a random muggle TV show.

Believe it, Olivia still can't understand her bond with Jungeun. They are so complicated, and only started to talk — to really talk — when all that situation with the love potion happened; but, yet, she wouldn't dare to imagine her life without that stupid Slytherin girl. 

She's happy that, even after Hogwarts, they handled things and kept in touch. All the four of them. Merlin, they passed through so much: Jiwoo's mom kicking her out of her house for being gay, Hyejoo's parents allowing her to become whatever she wanted to after finishing school, Jungeun being heartbroken for the end of her relationship with the Hufflepuff girl. Those were hard times, especially when Jungeun had to spend an entire year at Brazil studying for her specialization in Witch Medicine. 

_ Hyejoo almost lost her head that year.  _ She will never admit it, though.

"Yerim didn't come here to cuddle you since I got here. Is something wrong?" She asks out of nothing and Hyejoo thanks Merlin she did it. She really wanted to talk about it, but it is still _so_ _hard_ for her to start this kind of subjects. "Also, she bit me for hugging her. I mean, not that I was expecting a big reception, but I'm sure she was more lovable than that."

Hyejoo sighs. "We had a discussion today. She's just mad at me, I reckon. I'm sorry she's taking it out on you," she forces a pout.

"Very well," Jungeun puts her elbows on the bench and leans her body closer so the girls in the kitchen wouldn't hear them. "What did you do?"

"Why do  _ I _ have to be the one who does something?" Her friend's look makes her take a deep breath. "I don't know! She just asked me if I liked her and I reminded her that, uh, we live together. We're fucking dating. And she exploded. I don't have any idea of where  _ that _ came from. And now she's avoiding me.”

"Really? Is that it? You sure you didn't do anything before that?"

"Jung, we had an amazing night. We woke up, I made her breakfast and we decided to do nothing for a little bit, since our plans were canceled. I am not smart enough to mess up in such a short time."

"Yeah, you're right," she grins when Olivia slaps her leg. "Maybe her work is stressing her out. The Ministry can be tough, you know."

"She would have told me if that's the case, wouldn't she?" She doubts her own words. "I always tell her when something goes wrong with the store."

Jungeun rolls her eyes. "Do not get me wrong, Hye, but you own a bookstore. Yerim is a journalist with the Daily Prophet. There are lots of things that she knows, but cannot tell you.”

She's about to answer when Jiwoo calls them for dinner. Hyejoo is so hungry that she could eat her book. She thanks her girlfriend and her best friend enough times to Jungeun make fun of her, although the healer also appreciates the girls efforts to prepare the meal without any magic. It's lasagna, with no meat or milk or cheese, thanks to Hyejoo's vegetarianism and Jiwoo's recently acquired lactose intolerance.

They eat and talk about work and share their weekly problems while Jungeun makes not so funny jokes about Chuu's new girlfriend, a non-magical person called Jooe — she gets a bite from the puppy eyes girl for this one. And they end up the night with a romantic movie, which bores Jungeun and makes her get up from the furry carpet to take the dishes before she even reaches the middle of it. 

"I think I want a puppy," Chuu says.

"Why are you this nonsense?" Hyejoo asks. She cannot believe that's the lesson her mate took out of the movie.

"Puppies are extremely cute!" She defends.

"We have a puppy already," Jungeun says. "I'm looking at it right now."

"Stupid!" Jiwoo throws a pillow at her. "I don't know what I had in mind when I dated you."

"Oh, but I know," the blond continues. "It's something that, apparently, does not last forever, creampuff. It calls  _ good taste _ ."

This time, Hyejoo has to hold Jiwoo's waist so the girl wouldn't kill the laughing healer.

"Hyejoo, can we go now?" Yerim's sleepy voice makes Hyejoo throw her best friend's body at the soft object and pin her hair up in a bun. 

"Yes, babe. It's late," she takes Yerim's body and holds it for enough time to the girl wakes up completely. When she does, she walks aways from the brunette and Hye can't help but rolls her eyes. "Great."

(...)

It’s a Sunday and Jungeun is making them accompany her to Jinsoul’s wedding, an old friend of hers from Hogwarts. Hyejoo is in the living room waiting for her girlfriend to finish getting ready; Jungeun is already there, once she is one of the bride's maid of honor, and Chuu isn’t going. Apparently, Jooe set up a very romantic date in the same day and was not willing to reschedule.

Hyejoo told herself that she won’t say anything about it because it’s not her business, but she can’t deny it, not even Yerim can: Jiwoo has been off since she met Jooe, and Jooe is a very jealous girl. Their relationship is starting to affect Chuu's friendship with the girls, and Olivia doesn't like it at all. 

“Yennie, come on,” Hyejoo calls once more. They have exactly five minutes to leave or Jungeun will kill them. 

“Yelling at me won’t make me go faster, Hyejoo,” she hears Yerim screaming back. 

“For Merlin’s beard!” She whispers to herself this time. The witch gets up and goes up the stairs, finding Choerry in their room, looking at her own clothes in front of the mirror. “I cannot believe it, Yerim. If you are ready, why are you making me wait this much? Jungeun just sent me a howler! How long have you been faffing around like this?”

“Faffing around? I am not faffing around, Son Hyejoo!” Yerim says, the cheeks going red for the anger. “I’m trying to decide the better outfit. But nothing is working, I’m  _ so _ frustrated!”

Olivia sighs and holds her girlfriend’s arms. “What is the problem with the dress you’re wearing right now?” 

“It’s making me look ugly!”

“Do not talk tosh, Choi Yerim,” her face is as serious as her voice tone. She puts the purple-haired girl closer and holds her neck. “You look dishy, babe.” 

Yerim pouts. “You’re only saying that because you want to have sex with me tonight.”

“I always want to have sex with you, this is not an excuse,” Hyejoo jokes. She kisses Yerim’s lips and, Merlin, she realizes how much she misses it; their contact. 

It has been weeks since their fight now. Nevertheless, Yerim is barely letting her touch her and it is making Olivia go crazy. She misses her girl  _ so much _ . Not only in the sexual sense, though: she misses laying down with the Hufflepuff and doing nothing but cuddling, or just staring at her like Yerim was the only reason why she is still here. And she is.

She tried everything: cooking brownies, buying tickets for the Witch Generation concert, changing the ugly curtain that Yerim hated — something her girlfriend had been asking for, for a long time — for a new, purple one… even wearing a dress! And Hyejoo hates dresses. Nothing has managed to soften Yerim’s resentment.  _ Until now _ .

Choerry has these moments where she’s so sentimental that all she wants to do is crying and being cluddleded. Hyejoo finds it a little bit awkward, but she won’t say anything if her girlfriend is being nice to her again. 

Still… It makes her worried.

“Are we ready to go?” She asks. 

Yerim smiles brightly and bites her lip. “Yes, Olie.”

They apparate to a huge, crowded garden, a long expanse of green grass, with decorated tables, blue daisies and floating cement pilasters. There’s a lot of people there and they can recognize some from their time in Hogwarts, others from the papers, and the rest make them go back to their home: many prestigious and powerful purebred families in the world of magic. Families like Hyejoo’s.

“Is that Jeon Heejin?” Choerry sounds surprised and excited. Hyejoo follows her eyes and sees exactly who she refers to. In fact, that  _ is  _ Jeon Heejin, the Quidditch star player, standing not far from them with a beautiful pink dress and a glass of Cherry Syrup in hands. She’s surrounded by important people and, yet, Yerim asks. “Can we go there? Please, please, please!”

Merlin! Those puppy eyes are everything to Hyejoo, the cutest little thing in the world. Her girl is such a hysterical  _ fan _ . She rolls her eyes for that. “No!”

“Oh, Olie, come on! Now is not the time for being jealous.”

“That is not it. I am not jealous. Look! Kim Hyunjin is by her side. I’m not going any close to them,” she points her finger at her former roommate, the girl who made her hate her bedroom more than anything, and who never let her sleep without a poisonous hint about her family. Besides, Hyunjin always left Hyejoo’s bed dirty with bread crumbs on purpose. She is not over that shit.

“Olie, you really need to let it go,” Yerim comes closer and cups her girlfriend's face. “You guys are not fourteen anymore. She’s not going to take the piss out of you because you said ‘hi’. Come on, love, give it a try.”

It’s not that Choerry is insensible. Or that she wants to force Olivia to do something she doesn't want to just out of self-interest. She really wants to meet Heejin, but, beyond that, she feels that it is important to Hyejoo to move ahead that chapter. She wants her girlfriend to take that weight out of her shoulders once and for all.

“Ok,” she says after a deep breath. The Slytherin only says it because she cannot stand the psychologist Yerim version. But Yerim’s smile makes it worth it. 

They reach them as soon as the players are free of their shadows and Heejin reacts to the girls with an excited smile.

“Hey! I know you! You’re that journalist from the Daily Prophet, aren’t you? I love your column.”

“Hi,” Hyejoo cannot believe on how frozen the Hufflepuff is. 

“This is Choi Yerim,” the brunette introduces. “And I am Son Hyejoo. It is really nice to meet you, Yerim is a big fan.”

“Oh, that’s so-”

“Wait,” Hyunjin interrupts Heejin speech. “Son Hyejoo? I know you, don’t I? Yeah, I remember you! You looked familiar, after all. I didn’t know you two were still together, though. I didn’t think you were going to last.”

“Hyunjin,” Heejin calls her attention while Olivia closes her fists and presses her teeth. “I’m sorry. She can’t control her mouth sometimes, but I swear she can be nice.”

“Yeah, I doubt that,” Choerry replies. “I’m very happy I had the opportunity to meet you, Heejin. I really like your moves in the broom and all your performances, and I wish I could stay more and freak out like the crazy I am, but me and my girlfriend have somewhere else to be right now. Have a good afternoon,” she holds Hyejoo's hand as they walk away towards nowhere in particular and the purple-haired girl leaves a kiss on her girlfriend's bare shoulder. “I see that I owe you an apology.” 

“And I see that she is still a bitch,” she murmurs and Yerim kisses her soft pout. “I haven’t seen Jungeun since we got here. I am about to leave.”

“Hey, Olie. Don’t let her mess with your mood. You’re better than this.”

“No, I am not,” with anger, she replies. “I wish I could punch her stupid head. Maybe something less idiot would come out of it.”

“I agree!” Jungeun almost shouts. She’s by their side now, dressing a fancy and tight pants and a long-sleeved red bodice that cloud make anyone lose their head. “Who are we talking about?”

“Kim Hyunjin. Where the fuck were you, Jungeun?”

“Do not slap me, Son Hyejoo! It took Sooyoung an entire hour to make me look like this! I refuse to have an eyeliner touching me again.”

“What do you mean? You look like this everyday,” the purple-haired girl teases.

“Are you, my ugly cousin, begging to be hurt?” Jungeun reacts with a dangerous voice and Hyejoo stands in front of Yerim.

“Mate, do not.”

The blond raises her eyebrows and then closes her eyes. She is  _ so  _ sick of those two. “You know what? I pity your children.”

The moment — Jungeun doesn’t realizes it — is weird because they have never ever talked about having kids. And Olivia doesn’t know why, but something inside her is bothered by it.

“Come with me, couple. The ceremony is about to begin,” she calls and they follow her.

The next few hours make Hyejoo think a lot. Jungeun’s words; the marriage. She doesn’t know if she wants all that. Worst: she doesn’t know if  _ Choerry _ wants all that. But, if she did, she would have told her, wouldn't she? …In these times, the brunette doubts it. Nevertheless, it is an important conversation to have. She needs to be sure they want the same things, although Olivia  _ knows _ she would be willing to give up on any dream for her girl because that's just the way she is. 

In the celebration party, the Slytherin stays in the chair with the head full of thoughts, watching the guests and her girlfriend on the dance floor. Yerim looks like she’s having a lot of fun with Yeojin, the six-year-old adopted child from Haseul and Viian. They are adorable together and Jungeun, the child's godmother, tries to steal the little one from her cousin; but Yeojin is so in love with the bright Hufflepuff that nothing attracts her more. 

Olivia knows how that feels like. Loving Yerim is the only thing that makes her feel alive, makes her want more from the world. She cannot imagine a world without her.

So maybe she wants a child. But, wait: are they too young? They are not even married yet! For Merlin’s beard, does Yerim want to get married? Olivia thinks so. Olivia  _ hopes _ so.

“Are you okay?” Heejin surprises her by getting back. The player takes out her wreath of flowers and puts it on the table. “You look like you’re trying to solve a Grindelwald crime,” she realizes she has to explain it when Olivia’s confused face shows up. “Oh, sorry! American old joke. Forget it.” 

“Are you American?”

“Yes. I don’t sound like it, do I? I know. I guess I had too much contact with British people because I totally lost my accent.”

“You kept your verbiage, though,” Hyejoo points. 

“I did,” she slips her eyes to Yerim and back to the brunette again. “I’m sorry for earlier. You know, with Hyunjin. Sometimes she… I don’t know.”

“Sometimes, you say? I thought she was a complete idiot in hundred percent of the time,” she answers, the expression blocked. 

“I guess you’re right. But she told me about you guys, back in Hogwarts… She did some shit and she knows that. I’m not here to ask you to forgive her when she’s still mean to you; I’m just here to say that she had a difficult past and a very complicated family. It’s not personal. She has learned to be like that.” 

“She better unlearn it, then.”

“She’s trying,” Heejin assures, holding Hyejoo’s hand over the table so she could  _ feel _ her honesty. Hyejoo pulls it back because physical contact from people who are not inside her personal circle is not welcome. “She remembers you of you family, I get it. How your family treated you. I-”

“You are a legilimens,” Olivia figures and the player’s guilty look is a big ‘yes’. “Stop reading my mind. Stop it now.” She doesn’t realize she’s got aggressive until she is standing and Yerim is by her side, worried. Hyunjin reaches Heejin when Jungeun arrives them. 

“What the bloody hell is going on here?” The blonde asks. 

“Nothing. We were just talking, don’t worry,” Heejin ensures them. “Come on, Hyunjin. Let’s get something to eat.”

Choerry squeezes Olivia’s hand and Jungeun gets closer. 

“Explain it. Right now,” the blonde demands.

“Nothing. She was apologizing,” the secret is not hers to tell, she reckons. “Can we go now?”

(...)

She is at work. Yerim is pretty close to finish an article about the last two cases of strange and unknown creatures appearing in the west coast of the Delamere Forest and how recklessly the authorities in charge of capture and identification of them are acting about it, by allowing the regular entry of both witches and muggles, and not alarming them about the dangerous events.

Her pen continues to write as her mouth keeps moving and, suddenly, she remembers she has something else she also has to do.

Yerim has been trying to send her girlfriend a message for half an hour, always alternating between her article and her failed attempts, but that muggle thing — that small metal box that Chuu calls ‘cell phone’ — isn’t working and it’s making her very frustrated. That’s what she gets for saying ‘I’ll give it a try’ to Kim Jiwoo and her stupid muggle ideas.

For Melin’s beard… She’s even sounding like Hyejoo now! Ew! But,  _ no _ ! Yerim may have intense mood changes, but changing into a grumpy, emo witch is  _ too _ much. She has always been known as a happy little baby, there’s no way she's gonna let this bat mood crap beat her. 

She needs to get rid of that thing.

She stands up and leaves her desk to search for letter paper exactly when her phone beeps. It’s her girlfriend’s reply and it says that she should meet Hyejoo at her store. 

“Choi,” her boss calls. “Mrs. Kang is waiting for you in my office.” 

“I didn’t finish my article yet,” she says. “Can she wait a little bit?”

Mrs. Kim’s expression is not good — it never is, that short brunette is never smiling for anyone other than Jessica Jung —, but Yerim can see her bangs moving in a positive nod, although she knows that Taeyeon has no goodwill in doing so. She has a lot to do and only twenty four hours to do it

Sometimes, Yerim wishes the day had more than twenty four hours. 

**+++**

She arrives at Bookspell entrance around nine o’clock. There’s no watch in her pocket, but the dark sky tells her she’s  _ so  _ late. Choerry notices that the store layout has changed. Now, instead of the old air and the worn pilasters, there are glass walls and blackboards, where signatures of lots of people are engraved with colored crayons. The purple-haired woman gets in when she realizes that catching her breath on the street walk is making her hair stand on end in the cold. 

As usual, the store smells like Hyejoo; the scent of roses and lemon nourishing her subconscious and making her calmer. It always works. 

“Babe, you are late,” Olivia starts. She’s at the other side of the store, but, as soon as she sees her girlfriend, she returns the book in her hands to the shelf and walks to her. “Why did you take so long? I was worried.”

“I’m sorry. I had a meeting with my boss’s boss,” Yerim puts her arms around Olivia’s shoulders and gives her a kiss. “Are you okay? You sound sulky.”

“Nothing big. It’s just Yoona. She went out with her boyfriend today,” her pout makes Choerry laugh.

“Wow, that’s  _ so _ bad. How could she? I’m gobsmacked,” she jokes.

“Don’t say that, Yerim. The guy is a bloke. A wanker,” the bookseller defends. “She is way too sweet for him. I tried to talk to her about this today, but it was a total damp squib.”

“Hyejoo, you can’t do that! He’s  _ her _ boyfriend. It’s not our cup of tea, love, you know that.”

“I know it and I still do not care,” she replies. “Yoona is the better employee I have ever had. I worry about her! What if it was our daughter?”

“Wow, what?” She’s definitely surprised now. “Our  _ daughter _ ? Is that your way of telling me you want a child?”

Olivia blushes. She squeezes Yerim’s waist before answering. “Maybe.”

It is a comfortable silence that fills the room, leaving the purple-haired girl with a little time to think about what she has never ever thought about before while Hyejoo cuddles her: starting a family. Actually, she was hoping she could avoid this subject as long as possible, but, as usual, destiny is not on her side and now she has to tell her girlfriend about some things. Some very serious things.

What if she really, really wants a family? How could Yerim, being the lovelably person she is, deny it? How could she put herself first if the love of her life is just asking for what everyone else has? 

She was about to destroy everything: she could feel it. 

“Babe? You’re shaking,” Hyejoo’s voice sounds worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she holds her breath to answer. “But I think we have a date to go to, don’t we?”

“Don’t you dare to think  _ I _ forgot that.”

“Can we have cookies?” She’s excited again, the happiness slowly filling her body and lightening her face. “And that chocolate thing! Olie, pretty please! I never asked you for anything before!”

“You ask me for something every five minutes, Choi Yerim.”

“Olie!” The dragged moan makes Olivia laugh and hold tight her girlfriend’s hand. She waves her wand to close the store and turns to the prettiest cute face she has ever seen. The face she loves more than anything. Yerim’s beautiful puppy eyes with her dark, dilated pupils: they’re sharing a passionate look, the kind of look that makes all fights, big or small, they have had during these years worthwhile. It has so much meanings. 

“We will have everything you want. What about that?”

They have everything they need right where they are. Yerim only hopes that it is enough to keep Hyejoo by her side. 

(...)

Two weeks later, the four of them are at the Delamere Forest Park because Choerry insisted she needed to do an ‘investigation’. She has been acting like a maniac all day and didn’t separated from Chuu since they got there. She has been claiming it is just “commitment to her work”, but Hyejoo knows something is wrong, even if her girl says otherwise.

Given the circumstances, she is walking next to Jungeun at a safe distance from the girls, just in case something unexpected happens, and the blonde doesn't seems to be in her best days. Blow it! Olivia cannot believe she has the best mood of her crew. She feels crushed and does  _ not _ like it. 

She's not a very social person, but she tried to talk to Jiwoo about Jooe, and to Yerim about what is wrong, and with Jungeun, to try to figure why she is behaving like an annoying silent owl. Nothing worked, so she's frustrated. 

They keep walking, but Hyejoo, being the good friend she is, can't help noticing how Jungeun's eyes don't seem to want to leave Jiwoo. She watches her trying to smile secretly to something Jiwoo just did and realizes they haven't talked about that subject lately. And, maybe, she just found her way out. She cannot believe she was this blind.

She stops and holds the Kim's wrist. "Will you tell her you still like her?" 

Jungeun looks at her like she's been waken with cold water. "What? Why would I do that, Son?"

"Do not make us go there again," she asks. "I'm your friend and you've been keeping it inside you for too long. Isn't it time to let it out?"

The blonde looks away so Hyejoo can’t reach her. For Merlin’s beard, she didn’t want to talk about this, not at all. Although, at the same time, this situation in killing her from inside. She has been feeling broken for too long now.

“I already did it, okay?” She confesses, her body movements showing an unusual frustration. “Before this Jooe girl appeared, I went to her house in the middle of the night: I couldn’t sleep. I told her that, whenever I close my eyes, all I see is her. That I miss her every single day. That I still think about her, about us being together,” Hyejoo squeezes Jungeun’s hand after seeing a tear falling down her face. “She didn't answer me. She just kept looking at me with a stupid poker face and I swear, Hyejoo, I swear, that I have never felt more hurt. She didn’t even bothered to dump me, you know? So I left, and she is still ignoring me, treating me like I am some kind of devil.”

“Hey, Jungie, I know-”

“No, Hyejoo. Don’t,” Jungeun interrupts. “I don’t know what I did to make her hate me that much and I do not want to be forced to think about it. I did everything I could do to fix what, someday, there was between us. So, please, do not bring this up again.”

Olivia takes a deep breath because, inside her, she is holding the cry. She feels something suddenly breaking, burning her lungs, intoxicating her senses. She can't tell when her best friend became like this, this insensible person. Where's the Kim Jiwoo who used to live around Jungeun after just a little bit of attention? Where's the Kim Jiwoo who was sweet and kind and could never hurt anyone intentionally? Where the bloody hell is her best friend? 

She missed  _ so much _ . 

Hyejoo hugs Jungeun and holds her in her well covered arms, knowing that, even though she could, her friend wouldn't have a mental breakdown in that moment. Kim was always too strong to fall this easily and that's why she pressed the blonde's waist, feeling her warm breath while trying to give her some calm, some comfort. That was all Hyejoo could do, after all. 

"We better go now. The girls are starting to set up the picnic and I am very hungry," Jungeun let's go of Olivia's body and cleans her face with her sweater. 

Son raises her eyebrows. "Mate, you are always hungry."

"Do not annoy me, Hye, or I will be obliged to throw you in the lake next Christmas," she starts to walk, leaving the brunette behind. 

She wishes she had the power to make Jungeun feel better and take all this pain out of her. She curses because she does not have it. 

+++

"I have news," says Yerim and Hyejoo's curiosity is raised. 

They are all seated under the thick and colorful towel now, enjoying a lunch with pumpkin juice, Fire Whiskey and amazing sandwiches made by Choerry. No one is touching the glass bottle because Jungeun forbade them to touch the alcohol before six o'clock and a good amount of food in their stomachs. However, she could totally drink a sip or two to get on with the day after her talk with Hyejoo. 

"You're pregnant?" Jiwoo tries and the discomfort is immediate. Yerim was not expecting that assumption as much as Olivia, who chokes on her juice. 

"I don't think that's the case, creampuff," Jungeun plays, seeing the shock eroding her cousin's reaction. 

"No, that's definitely not the case," Yerim answers. "I'm going on a trip with the Daily Prophet in a few days. Mrs. Kim needs me to cover an investigation into a illegal practice of magic in France. Some magical circus." 

"When is it?" It's all Hyejoo asks. 

"If you have to leave the country, it must be something big, right? Yeriminie, this can be huge for your career!" Comes Chuu with her bright mood and her true excitement, her happiness for her close friend exposed in her big smile. 

"I know! I'm excited about it," she turns to her girlfriend with a shy smile. "I'm leaving in two weeks." 

"Two weeks?" Hyejoo shouts. "Babe, this is too soon." 

Jungeun shakes her head in agreement. "And you would miss my birthday."

That's something to consider. They haven't pass each other's birthday all together since their first year after Hogwarts and the four of them had promised to make a big party to celebrate Jungeun's birthday. Yerim hadn't thought about that. 

"We could postpone the party," the purple-haired suggests. 

"Yes, we could.  _ If _ ," Jungeun points. "The invitations had not already been delivered, remember? Olivia helped me to sent all of them on Friday."

Choerry sighs heavily and Hyejoo puts her hand on the backs of her girlfriend. "We can do something when you come back, babe. We will figure it out."

"I'm sorry, girls." 

"It's ok, Yeriminie. We support your career," Jiwoo cheers. "Show those french wizards how it's done."

"Sure," the blonde reluctantly agrees and Choi Yerim smiles. 

"I'll wait for your letters," Hyejoo says. 

She has wonderful friends and a lovely girlfriend. 

(...)

Hyejoo and Yerim are in a recently opened cafeteria in the Diagonal Alley and it is four o'clock in the afternoon. Today is the day of Yerim's trip and she has to leave in two hours. Since neither of them had lunch for the Hufflepuff's girl delay with her clothes, they are looking for something to eat and she is in line to place their order while Olivia is getting them a table. 

Her mood changes aren't so bad and she has been able to control them and not to show too much of her confused personality. Yerim is chuffed. 

Her eyes catches the butterflies flying in the gray walls and recognizes it as a really good enchantment spell. She smiles at it and looks back at Hyejoo, noticing she's not alone anymore. Her girlfriend is talking to a short blonde girl who's face is out of Yerim’s sight, but they seem happy to have met since they're laughing and the brunette is smiling openly. 

Yerim knows she shouldn't do it. She was always a jealous person, but, bloody hell, she had never felt this bothered before. She had  _ limits _ . She tries to fight it: she loses it and, when she stops walking, she can see every — beautiful — detail of the blonde girl because she is right in front of her now, and she does not recognize her. 

"Yennie, I thought you were getting us coffee," Hyejoo says when she catches Yerim's empty hands. 

"It's too much crowded here, babe. Can't we go somewhere else?" 

Olivia knows something is wrong because Yerim hasn't called her 'babe' for a long time. It's always 'love' or 'Olie'. She wonders what the hell is it now. She nods anyway. "There's a muggle coffee shop out of the Alley, just across the street. We could try something there," she turns to the blond. "Chae, do you want to join us?" 

'Chae'? Yerim asks herself. They are  _ so _ going to talk about it. 

'Chae' smiles shyly and doesn't look again at her friend's girlfriend. "Nah. I'll pass this one, if you don't mind. But it was really nice to see you again, Oli." 

She leaves with her fancy skirt and her beautiful smile, her golden hair swaying elegantly with each step she makes. Once she’s out of sight, Yerim's palm finds Hyejoo's arm with strength. 

“Who is her?”

“Ouch! Choi Yerim!” Hyejoo tries not to scream, but she is whispering louder than she expected. “Bloody hell! What was that for?” 

Choerry’s cheeks are red, her teeth are rubbing with some pressure; she can feel her nails hurt her hands and, yet, nothing comes out of her mouth. She's stuck; feeling everything while being able to express nothing at all. She’s having a mental breakdown without even knowing why. Jealousy is not a reason good enough, it shouldn't have caused all this freaking storm in her stomach. But she feels like throwing up and crying, and screaming and hitting something. She’s angry; sad; hurt; and all the feelings she hates so much. 

The purple-haired girl leaves without an explanation, frustrated. She wants to be away from her girlfriend and that’s why she leaves Hyejoo there, completely confused, with no idea of what was going on. 

She was not ready to tell her and that’s the last time they see each other before the journalist is out of the country.

(...)

Yerim is in a wizard's hotel well hidden on the outskirts of Paris. Her pen doesn’t stop writing everything her mouth quickly says, while her bare feet wander the shaggy carpet in the bedroom; her body not so well dressed is sitting on the floor. All the information she managed to collect is finally lining up in her head and she is sure that there is someone giving false testimonies, even though she does not know how to identify who. She’s trying, though. 

_ Her thoughts are trying to stay far away from Son Hyejoo.  _

That is already her third week in French lands and they haven’t had any contact since the cafeteria day. Yerim is afraid of dealing with her girlfriend after the way she behaved because she will have to explain  _ why _ she did it. And that makes her want to hide in a cave forever.

It is so frustrating. This feeling inside of her makes her shiver minute by minute; it makes her mind insist on bad thoughts and possible realities in which everyone leaves her and her life is millimetrically destroyed. It’s killing her. 

However, she decides to act. 

Yerim reaches for little metal box on top of her desk and searches for the name on it’s contact list. The call is soon accepted. 

"Jiwoo," she starts. "Do you know anyone called Chae?"

"Chae?" She repeats. The Kim would joke about her friend’s lack of education if it weren’t for the mention of that one name. "Like, Chaewon? Park Chaewon?" The girl's tone tells Yerim she knows something. 

"Yes, exactly. Park Chaewon. Blonde, charming. Who is this girl?"

"When did Hyejoo told you about her? How much did she say?"

"A few weeks ago, before I travel," she answers. "She didn't say much, but we're not in a good time right now and I'm curious. Tell me about her."

She’s lying, but the American does not know it. Hye didn’t say anything at all about Chaewon and Yerim is sure she wouldn't even know about the existence of this girls if it wasn't for their aciddental meeting

"Ok, but-” Jiwoo sighs before continuing. “She’s French.”

“Nice,” the purple-haired grumbles.”How ironic.”

“Anyways, she did an exchanged year in Hogwarts during fifth year and met Olivia. They got really close, as you can imagine.”

Yerim holds a laugh as she imagines the scene. “I bet she fell in love.” 

“Yes.  _ Olivia _ did. Very deeply, if you want me to be honest.” 

The British heart breaks to Jiwoo’s words. She suddenly wants to cry and scream and never get out of that bloody hotel. 

“Oh…” It’s everything she says. 

“They dated for some time, even though they both knew Chae’s time was ending. And when it did, Olivia got really scared to be with anyone else in that way again.”

The silence remains for a few minutes because Jiwoo doesn’t want to press her friend after telling her girlfriend had a big epic love before her, and Yerim doesn’t make a noise for what it seems to be ten minutes. She chooses her words very carefully.

“Thank you for telling me,” she says. “I figured they had something by the way Chaewon looked at Hyejoo at the-”

"What?” Jiwoo shouts. “You met her? Yerim, what the fork?"

"Just… Forget it! But thank you," she runs in her words. "A lot. I have to go now. Love you. Bye!" Choerry hangs up the call before Chuu starts to scream again. 

She finally realizes what she had done and,  _ oh _ , Olivia would kill her as soon as she found out.

(...)

When Son Hyejoo wakes up, her body is hurting and she feels that her right leg is wet. She has no idea how she ended up on the kitchen floor, or how her head could handle sleeping on the hard floor for so long. For Merlin's sake, she's so dirty now that the only thing she can think of is taking a shower. 

She gets up and runs her hands behind her back, squeezing the painful places, and realizes that it is already two in the afternoon when she looks at the clock on the counter in Kim Jungeun's house. Alright, it was her best friend's party yesterday, but she didn't expect to get high enough to don’t even remember the end of the night.

If Yerim was there, she would have killed her. But she wasn’t. And, one way or another, it was all the fault of Ha Sooyoung's fire whiskey. 

Hyejoo walks around the house just to confirm that it is empty. Aside from all the dirt, plastic cups lying on the floor and Sooyoung's naked body lying on the couch; yes, there is no one else. She lazily climbs the stairs, her hand moving with her wand in a silent housekeeping spell, and approaches the guest room, where she is sure there is a clean towel she could dry herself with.

However, the noise of Jungeun's door opening catches her attention and she turns around, hoping to see the lazy, hangover face of the birthday girl. She is disappointed to see no one but Kim Jiwoo there, who was trying to sneak out while holding her heels with one hand and trying to button her shirt with the other.

“What the bloody hell?” She asks. 

Jiwoo looks at her with a very surprised face, almost panicking, and closes the door so the blonde inside the room wouldn’t wake up. 

"Forget you saw me, please," she cries and tries to wall away, but Oliva grabs her arm. 

"Oh, don not even!" She says. "You slept with her. In her birthday. When you already have a bloody girlfriend!"

"I know! I know, okay? Please stop repeating that," the — recently — ginger girl looks around as if there was someone there to hide from. "It's just… It was a mistake. It won't happen again."

"I don't think it was a mistake for her, Jiwoo."

"But it was for me!" Jiwoo is being loud. 

Olivia stops and looks deeply into Chuu's eyes hoping to find some spark of that sweet and completely in love with Jungeun girl that she used to know. 

“Jiwoo, I am going to be really honest with you: I do not like what you’re doing to Jungeun. It is childish and it is not fair,” the smaller is about to say something when Hyejoo speaks again. “I do not know what happened between the both of you and if you won’t tell me, it is ok. But it’s not right of any of you to let me hanging here, wondering what the bloody hell is going on and watching my friends getting hurt.”

“It’s more complicated than that. You don’t know what you’re talking-”

“Then explain me!” She shouts and Jiwoo shrinks shyly, not willing to speak. “Very well. Then I hope you understand how much I love you, but I refuse to cover this shitty behavior.” 

With wet eyes, clearly affected by her words, Chuu bites her lip and lowers her head, eyes pressed as she mutters something that sounds inaudible to Hye. 

“What? What did you say?” 

She looks at Hyejoo reluctantly. “I’m cursed.”

“You’re what?” The question comes from Jungeun, who’s standing in front of her door with a white sheet covering her body. Jiwoo’s mouth open in surprise, but nothing comes out of if. The blonde moves closer as Hyejoo sighs heavily. 

“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“Jiwoo,” Olivia calls. “We are your friends. Just tell us already.” 

The redhead raises her guilty eyes to find the hurt expression of her ex girlfriend, and takes a deep breath before biting her lip and formulate the phrase inside her hair. 

If she could choose, she wouldn’t be telling them about this. They would never know and things would be that simple, because the truth might hurt them as well. Worse: the truth hurts _ herself _ , every day and night, just as much as it destroys all the dreams she wished she could fulfil once she was of age. 

“I'm a half-breed witch,” she says and Jungeun raises an eyebrow.

“Is your father…”

“No,” Jiwoo denies. “Actually, the man that raised me is my stepfather. I found out when I came back to my parent’s house to take my things, right after they had kicked me out, you know. And my mom thought that, that would be a great time to throw the truth in my face. My real father was a wizard.”

“Who was him?” Hyejoo asks.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter,” she quickly answers. “He was probably a pure blood because someone cursed my mom while she was pregnant and, well, now I’m a freak too.”

“A blood curse?” Chuu confirms while Jungeun crosses her arms. “Malediction?”

“No!” Hyejoo is the one to declare. “It’s impossible. You never transformed into anything. Not even once.”

The blonde looks away from her ex girlfriend and shakes her head. She feels so bad for not having noticed before. Before it all happened. 

“Not in front of us, Hye. At least, not in front of us,” she turns to Jiwoo. “It was not fair. You should have told us. What did you think would happen? Me leaving you? Hyejoo and Yerim never speaking to you again? For Melin’s sake, Jiwoo!”

Jiwoo then steps away and begins her body language, her arms moving and her sweet eyes too emotional.

“That’s not it! I knew you guys wouldn’t do any of those things. That’s exactly why I kept my distance. That’s why I-” She doesn’t wanna say it. However, she has to. She does. “That’s why I broke up with you.”

With the revelation, Hyejoo leaves the air she was unconsciously holding in come out because, good Merlin, that explains  _ so much _ . She is so sad with the news, and she knows she’ll be even more heart broken once her mind is completely awake, but she doesn’t know to say because Jungeun is there and her presence is making her uncomfortable, like she has no place of speech in that moment. 

However, she does say something — only because she feels so sorry for both of her best friends that her heart aches. 

“Oh, Jiwoo… What have you done?”

Olivia knows the answer, though. She used to do it a lot herself before her first heart broken. She walked away from everyone and tried to minimize all her relationships, since her emotional had turned into a time bomb and she didn't want anyone she cared to be around when it exploded.

Jiwoo had done something very similar. 

She reaches for her Slytherin mate’s eyes, but she doesn’t find them. They’re fixed on Jiwoo’s, and,  _ oh _ , Jungeun looks  _ so _ angry. Nevertheless, Olivia can’t imagine what are the thoughts of the blonde about that matter. She watches her moving closer and holding Jiwoo’s shoulders with such precision that the thought of putting those two in the same room might seem too risky. At least for the next weeks.

“You had no right to do so,” Jungeun strikes. “No right, Jiwoo. It was  _ not _ your decision.”

None of them imagined Chuu would do something stupid once again, and yet, she did: she panicked, feeling guilty, sorry and hurt; running away from their bodies and disappearing before reaching the stairs. Disappointment filled the hall.

The blonde didn’t look to Olivia: she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hands and moved, closing the bedroom door behind her. 

Hyejoo heard the sound of the lock.

**+++**

It is six in the afternoon when Hyejoo gets home. She didn’t plan on spending the whole week on Jungeun’s places, but the circumstances weren’t the best. 

When Chuu left her house in the morning after the party, the blonde refused to leave her room, so Olivia — being the amazing friend she is — stayed to make sure her friend wouldn’t do anything she could regret, like missing her job. She made sure Jungeun woke up everyday to go to work and ate something in front of her, even though the girl wasn’t speaking to her — to anyone, actually. She was too depressed to social interactions. 

Of course she wasn’t elective on her support: she called Jiwoo a thousand times, but, apparently, she had disappeared. As if she no longer had too many difficulties in her life!

Yerim has not answered her letters either, since the beginning of the trip, and she seemed to refuse to even send a smoke signal to say she was fine. Alive, at the very least. This was making Olivia so angry that the thought of breaking into her girlfriend's hotel room even crossed her mind. However, after witnessing the situation of Jiwoo and Jungeun, she had decided to let it go and try to make peace with Yerim as easily and quickly as possible. 

She misses her girl too much to let her pride to control her. 

Her legs guide her to the kitchen and her stomach growls. She is so hungry right now, but too lazy to even cast a cooking spell, not after all the ones she did at Jungeun’s place. Moreover, there’s probably not all the food needed to prepare the glorious soy burger that keeps popping up on her head, as a very unjust temptation. She settles for a bowl of macaroni and cheese instead, and apparates in her hallway upstairs. Her bedroom door opens in front of her at the same time that the first mouthful gets in her mouth, and an unexpected sight makes her jump in surprise.

“Fuck! Jiwoo!” She screams, one hand over her heart while the other — shaking — holds the bowl. “How long have you been at my house?” 

The redhead’s get sad. “Since the party?” It is not a question, although Jiwoo makes it sounds like one. 

The Hufflepuff girl is there, on top of her red carpet, dressed in baggy pajamas and a jar of lactose-free ice cream between her legs. The television, which Hyejoo has no idea how or when it got there, is on in front of her showing some animated moving image.

“Excuse me?!” The brunette says.

“I’m sorry!” She shouts. “I just… I didn’t want to go to home.”

“What, don’t you have any pictures of you and Jungeun there to look at while you suffer in a very dramatic way?” It was a joke. A very bad one, yes, but Hyejoo didn’t expect it to be true. However, she recognizes the look of her friend’s face too well. “Oh, Lord. You really don’t, do you?”

Jiwoo pouts in a sad way. So sad that Hyejoo feels sorry for her. She watches Jiwoo throw her own body on her — and Yerim’s — bed and hold a cry. She leaves her food on the shelf and comes closer, lying beside the smaller girl, her arm surrounding her little waist to give some comfort. 

“I burned everything that could potentially make me think of her,” Chuu reveals in a low voice. “It was all part of the Owl Plan.”

Olivia frowns. “‘The Owl Plan’?”

“Yeah. Things to do before I’m dead.”

“You are not going to die, Jiwoo.”

“No,” she agrees. “I’ll become an owl. Permanently. And I’ll watch everyone I love the most die. Great change, really.”

Hyejoo kisses her cheeks and holds her tighter, saving the new information on a special place inside her head. “If I could do anything about it, I swear to you that I would. I am so sorry, Chuu.”

“I know. You’re my best friend,  _ you have to be, _ ” Jiwoo looks at her. “I should have told you. From all people, at least you.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I was scared, I guess. I didn’t want to think about your opinions on the matter. I wanted to be selfish and to do whatever I could to protect  _ me _ .”

Olivia slowly sits down and takes both of Jiwoo’s hands, holding them next to her shoulders. 

“What are you planning to do  _ now _ ?”

“I don’t know,” shyly, she confesses. “I wish I knew how to keep pushing you guys away, but… Hye, I’m so afraid of being alone.”

“And I believe that is why Jooe appeared, isn’t it?”

Hyejoo's eyes make Jiwoo feel pressured and she lowers her head, feeling embarrassed.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen. We met in work and she kept hitting on me. I was needy.”

“I see..”

“I broke up with her three days ago,” the news makes Olivia smile. 

“Good. It would be awkward if Jungeun arrived and you still dated her.”

The smaller opens her eyes wide. “You told her I was here?”

“Not yet, no,” she shakes her head. “But I will, so you better prepare yourself for this conversation.” 

“You know… Of all of us, you were the one who grew the most in terms of personality. I'm proud, Hye,” Hyejoo smiles at that.

“Yeah, yeah. What would you do if I had not?” She jokes and they both laugh. “The old me would have probably just yelled at you and never want to see you again. But I must admit that maturity came naturally to me. I did not force it or anything like that. It just… Came with time, I reckon.”

Jiwoo rolls her eyes. “Stop fishing or I’ll call you Pokemon from now on.”

“You know,” she imitates her friend’s speech. “I must tell you that sometimes I cannot understand a single work that comes out of you. I mean it, what the bloody hell is a Pokemon?”

Chuu laughs hard and gets slapped for it, forcing the Slytherin to hold her emotion. 

“It’s like a cartoon. Like Adventure Time. I bet you would like it.”

“Adventure Time?”

Of course she didn’t even memorize the title of it. The American doesn’t know why still had that hope. “The one with the gay princess and the gay vampire.”

“Oh, I do enjoy that show very much.”

Jiwoo smiles and Hyejoo’s heart hurts a little. She doesn’t want to think about losing her best friend. She refuses. If it wasn’t for Jiwoo, Yerim and her wouldn’t be together and she would probably be some grumpy auror living in a small apartment just to please her family. She feels like she owns everything for that little redhead she loves so much. 

Olivia takes her phone out of her pants pocket and sends a brief text message to Jungeun asking her to come to her home after her shift at St. Mungu's, just when her home bell rings and the both girls frown at each other in a silent question.

They apparate to the living room and Hyejoo opens the door, imagining her friend — or even her girlfriend — on the other side and planning to pull any of them in before they ran away. She’s too surprised to do so when she sees a really small girl with a really beautiful blond hair in front of her eyes.

“Chaewon?” 

The Park’s face lights up and she smiles to Hyejoo, just as in shock. “Oh! Hey, Oli! Is this your house?”

“Yeah. Yes, it is,” she realizes how rude she is being and gives the girl some space. “Come in, please.”

Chaewon accepts the invite, but the brunette is already speaking again.

“How did you found my house? Did something happened?”

“Actually,” the French starts. “I didn’t know you lived here. I came for work.”

“Work?” It’s Jiwoo who asks, while approaching them. Chaewon raises an eyebrow for that, but the redhead doesn't mind it. “Hello, Gowon.” 

The girl laughs and blushes, touching her own hair and suddenly feeling shy. “Won’t you ever forget that nickname?”

Chuu is about to answer when Olivia takes the front. “Actually, could you tell us what you are here for? I don't mean to sound rude, but I am a bit curious.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s,” she shakes her head. “It’s just for work. I’m looking for some Choi Yerim?”

“She is my girlfriend,” Hyejoo answers. “You met her at the coffee shop at the Diagon Alley some weeks ago. I believe you remember.”

“I do remember. Although, if I knew it was her name, I’d have come sooner,” she smiles. “I came on behalf of the European Witch Union Hospital, I am the new attendant in the Muggle Diseases section.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Jiwoo squeezes Olivia’s hand to calm her down. “What does she have to do with that?”

The questions of both of them tell Chaewon that she doesn’t know anything about the subject, even though the focus is her girlfriend. Nevertheless, she has to say it because it’s her job, and she takes it very seriously.

“She came to us two months ago to get a diagnosis. Dr. Jung has been treating her ever since, but she missed the last five consultations, so they sent me here to check on her, since I will be supervising her case.”

The time matches with her girlfriend’s trip and Hyejoo's body stiffens. Her best friend takes the lead, feeling that the Slytherin is _ this _ close to having a breakdown right there.  _ Not her. Not Yerim. _

Hye feels confused and lost before even knowing if the disease is termina or not. She gets Jungeun now, in more ways she wanted to, and maybe all this news are too much for her little brain because it can stop thinking.

She swallows. “What has she been treated for?”

Chaewon’s eyes break. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you, Oli. Only the patient can decide what to do with that information. I wish I could help you, but-”

“No,” she stops her. “I understand.”

The brunette is sure that the blonde kept talking, but her inner self is too tired and therefore cannot process any more information. Her eyes watched Chaewon's gentle smile and Chuu's movement beside her, realizing that the redhead was escorting the healer out in a gesture of kindness and apprehension. Once without Park there, she feels her stomach burn.

“Why the fuck does everyone keep lying to me?!” She screams, her voice filling all the empty space in the room.

Chuu not even blinked.

+++

The next time Son Hyejoo speaks to Park Chaewon again, eight days have passed and she still has no sign of Yerim. She tried to call her again and again; sent a letter to her boss, Kim Taeyeon, and even got in contact with the hotel the Hufflepuff is staying, but, apparently, ‘Mrs. Choi and her team changed hotels a week ago”.

Alright, she knows that Yerim is not allowed to contact members of her personal life during investigative trips, but Hyejoo needs to know that she is alive, at the very least. She has been so stressed and worried that her friends decided to keep her company — a disguised lookout, if Oliva is sincere —, temporarily moving to the guest room of her house.

The brunette is watching an episode of Adventure Time while ignoring Jiwoo’s low moans, who’s sitting right next to her on the couch. As if she couldn’t see the movement of Jungeun’s hand over their blanket and didn’t know what was happening in her own roof. Honestly.

She was willing to say nothing about it, though, since it took them long enough to make up and give an end to that awful situation they got themselves into. But then a white owl broke into her house and she had to stand up and tell them to stop whatever was going on. 

The animal was carrying a letter from Park Chaewon, straight from her work, and it said that she had to go to the European Witch Union Hospital immediately, although she couldn’t say  _ why _ if it wasn’t face to face. 

“Do you think it is about Yerim?” Jiwoo asks with red cheeks. 

“It can only be.”

“Okay,” she says and turns to Jungeun, who was already been updated on the Yerim case a few days ago. “I just need to go to the bathroom and then I’m good to go.”

Hyejoo would have laughed if it wasn’t for the situation. She truly hopes everything is fine, even if her heart is aching. 

“Do you know where it is? The Hospital?” She asks to the blonde when Jiwoo comes back.

Jungeun agrees and moves her wand to clean herself up. “I replaced one of their Healer’s once. Hold me.”

She offers them both her arms and the witches are quick to grab her, leaving the calm wizarding quarter to appear in a low-temperature lobby, with white walls and little movement. Jungeun takes the first step against the reception and smiles at the old man who answers her, as if she knows him well enough to speak informally. She does, by the way.

The man looks beyond the blonde’s body a few seconds later, right at Olivia and Chuu, and winks. “Mrs. Park is in room 124.”

They wait until Jungeun hands them identification strings and guides them once again, being able to meet Chaewon in the corridor, with hair up and gray robes.

“You came,” she smiles sadly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“What are we here for, Chae?” Hyejoo asks. 

In response, she sighs and comes closer. “Yerim is here. Some people from her work or something like that, brought her yesterday morning. I’d have told you sooner, but it was my day off and-”

“Where is she?” She screams, not realizing how shaky her hands are.

“Hye,” Jungeun touches her belly. “Calm down. We are here already. It is going to be alright.”

She slowly nods at that and they follow Chaewon up to a room two floors up, the number 812 floating over the brown door and the white plug glued to the wood. Yerim's name is there, and it's the girl's face that Hyejoo sees when she enters the room. 

Her girlfriend is seated on a mattress with white sheets and wears a black blanket over her purple dress. Her eyes widen in fear when she realizes who's there, and searches for her doctor for answers. A blonde woman extends her gaze from her clipboard to the new intruders, and raises her eyebrows in a silent question.

“Who are they, Park?” She asks.

“You told me you needed Yerim’s family to sign the consent for the new treatment,” Chaewon explains. “Dr. Jung, this is Kim Jungeun, Yerim’s cousin, and Son Hyejoo, Yerim’s girlfirend. Girl, this is Jessica Jung.”

“I see three here,” the doctor points out. 

“She is with us,” Jungeun says. “Now could you tell us what is going on?”

The woman turns to her patient and whispers her something, and the purple-haired girl starts to squeeze the pink plastic ball in her hand in controlled movements, her head down. Jessica leaves her clipboard on the bed and approaches her viewers. 

“I think I should go now,” says Chaewon and turns to Olivia, touching her arm. “Everything’s gonna be ok. I’ll be always available if you need help. Or someone to talk to. You all know where to find me.” 

She smiles and the girls smile back. Hyejoo doesn’t. Her gaze doesn't leave Yerim for even a second. And it is quite alright, Chaewon gets it, so she leaves them with a worried heart.

“What do you know about muggle diseases?” Jessica corrects herself seconds later. “Non-magic, if you’d like.”

“I’m a muggle-born,” Jiwoo reveals. “Half-breed, I mean. So pretty much, I think.”

“Very well, then. What Yerim has is called depression and anxiety. They are separate diseases, although it is common to find a combination of the two in one subject,” she takes a deep breath and gives a look to the younger girl. “They were only known in the Muggle world, and have been leaving traces of destruction in their society ever since. Nobody knew this could come to us until some cases were found among Norwegian wizards five years ago, and then the E.W.U. association raised funds to open a study wing on these diseases and here we are.”

“What does it do to her, exactly?” Hyejoo asks. 

“Depression causes changes in the appetite, insomnia, mood changes and a few other things. But the real problem is what it does to someone’s mind. It drains life on it. It messes with the person’s feelings-”

“What caused this?” Olivia is holding a cry now. “Like, could she have caught this from someone?”

“There’s no cause, and no, it is not a contaminating disease,” they all look at Jiwoo. “At least for the Muggles.”

“It can be caused by trauma, hormone irregularity, bipolar disorder or even pregnancy, the period just after the baby is born. But yes, it may also be nothing,” the doctor develops. “Unfortunately, this is the case with Choi Yerim, which makes it more difficult to treat.” 

“How is that?” Jessica is about to answer when Jungeun speaks again. “I am a Healer. I don’t understand how the same disease can be treated in different ways.”

“And I imagine you don’t have any contact with mental illness.”

Hyejoo finally looks at the woman, raising her hand to bring up attention. “Let me see if I got it. If it was a traume, for example, you would start working on it, isn’t it?”

“Exactly, yes,” she agrees. “But there is no traume, which leaves us without a starting point. Our knowledge is already scarce, and there is still her anxiety…”

“You mean like, panic attacks, anxiety attacks, too many thoughts. That kinda thing?” Jiwoo offers. She only does it, thought, because one of her cousin, who is a Muggle, and had it for a long time. 

“Among other things, yes. However-”

“Could you leave us?” 

“Excuse me?” The doctor sounds offended; her eyebrows are raised.

“I would like to talk to her,” she says. 

Jessica looks at Yerim once more and sighs. She knows who Son Hyejoo is because her patient talks about her all the time, and she knows enough about their relationship to imagine how the brunette might be feeling right now, with all this new information. Although, she must admit, she doesn't like the idea of taking Yerim out of her sight. 

Still, she nods. “I’ll give you ten minutes, and then I’ll bring paperwork to present our most advanced treatment options,” Jessica stands for a few more seconds, trying to find a phrase that wouldn't sound rude. “She had a panic attack during a investigation after seeing a baby’s commercial, that’s why her crew brought her here and I think you know what this is related to.”

The brunette feels attacked, her head processing so fast it hurts. However, she says nothing.

The purple-haired girl notices when the movement in the room slows down, the three witch women leaving and closing the door, leaving only her girlfriend, who is standing looking at her, there. She starts to squeeze the plastic little ball more tightly.

“Is that why you don’t want to have children?” 

Yerim lowers her head, agreeing without actually doing so. “I don’t think I’ll be a good mother.”

Olivia feels the need for touch so she quickly approaches and takes Choerry's hands.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I thought- I thought you didn’t want a family.”

“Olie, I do want it! But I’m not the right person for it. You heard the doc, I’m all fucked up. I’m gonna be a shitty mother.” 

“Stop saying that about yourself, Yerim. This is not true. You are perfect. The best thing that ever happened to me,” she tries to smile because she wants Yerim to smile at her. ut she doesn’t: she keeps her eyes down and pouts.

“We can try it if you want. Like, adoption or something-”

“Oh no, babe, no. We would not have a child now not even if you begged me to,” she takes Yerim's chin and raises her face in a loving gesture. “You will  _ always _ be my priority. You have always been. We will focus on you recovery and we won’t talk about nothing else until you are completely fine. And please do not please pressured to get better because that is not what I’m doing here. I am just… You know, worried.”

They share a look, that same look from the book store day, and Yerim is finally able to feel Hyejoo's intentions; the much she cares, the much she worries. She knows that, if it were possible, that girl would take her pain for herself just so she wouldn't go through it because that is just how Olivia is when the subject is the Hufflepuff with the sweetest eyes ever.

“I can’t understand why you’re being so supportive with me. I lied and I kept things from you and-”

"Because I love you! Bloody hell!" She doesn’t scream, but she whispers it really loud, her throat burning all the way to her stomach. 

She didn’t plan to say it like that, out of nothing. She wanted to do so only when she was going to propose Yerim. She never did it before, to anyone, not even Chaewon, or her parents. 

Her parents never were the most loveable or opened people in the world. Guess that’s why she is the way she is; or  _ was _ . Although it was implied that they did love her, as well as she loved them, they never kissed her, or told her — with words — they loved her. So much that the fondest memory she has of them is when she was eleven years old and was about to enter Hogwarts. They took her to an ice cream shop even though they disgusted Muggle culture, just because they knew she loved ice cream.

So, yeah, saying that is a big deal to Hyejoo, and her girlfriend knows it.

A smile comes and go from Choerry’s lips. "I can't believe you made me wait four years to hear that.”

Olivia raises her eyebrows in surprise, almost finding it funny. "Oh, because you are such a good person with words, right?"

She hears Yerim’s laughter and it is so adorable that she kisses her, and there couldn’t be a better timing since the both of them were  _ so hungry _ for each other. They needed that contact to reaffirm everything that had been said, as a secret oath that would forever belong to them. Nevertheless, they still have the rest of their lives to do more, even if the Hufflepuff's brain was still trying to process it and not rush things like it has been doing. 

“Are we going to be alright?” She asks once their mouths aren’t touching anymore. Her eyes are full of doubts, but, now, Hyejoo knows it’s the anxiety acting.

“Always. Even if nothing else is, we will always be.”

And Yerim believes it just as much as Hyejoo do.  


(...)

It is New Year and this is the first time they are on a beach — a real beach, with real sand — after celebrating Christmas at Yerim and Jungeun's family house, as they always do. It is thanks to Jungeun, who was invited to speak at the party of the Brazilian Association of Witch Medicines, that they are on at the Beach of the Fort, a very famous beach in the city of Salvador, together with dozens of healers who cannot help talking about potions in every conversation they have. 

The ex blonde — who is now a brunette — left the country owing a favor to one of her teachers during her exchange a few years ago, so she couldn't refuse the invite. However, it is not being bad at all. There is music playing, drink being served every second — and not by house elves, which makes Hyejoo quite happy — and laughter can be heard in all circles of conversation. They have never met wizards as energetic as the Brazilians. 

Son Hyejoo is standing next to the food table, watching her friends while holding a glass of guarana and gin cocktail; a smile placed in her mouth. Kim Jungeun holds her girlfriend by the waist and is wearing white witch robes, gold highlighting its details. Jiwoo, on the other hand, is wearing a long white sleeveless dress while amusingly following the conversation between the healers around her, never allowing herself to be left out.

She is so happy that they decided to just live instead of worrying about things from the future. They have been in this country for a week and it is clear to Olivia that her friends have never been happier. They will definitely get married first and that’s exciting because she will learn how to plan a wedding. 

The lights of the lanterns that float above their heads make her tired and she moves her head, having a perfect view of the back of Choi Yerim's body. She is on the beach, watching the waves of saltwater break up before reaching the sand. Even though Olivia can only see her long purple hair and the white skirt that extends just before her knees, she finds her so beautiful. Gorgeous. Her girl is gorgeous. So natural and so truly to herself. 

If it wasn’t Yerim, it wouldn’t be anyone; Hyejoo knows that. 

Her feet move before she realizes and her hand drops her drink on the first table she sees. She takes off her shoes to step on the sand and walks over to the body of her favorite person, hugging her from behind and leaving a kiss on her naked shoulder.

“Are you alright?” She asks. 

Choerry doesn’t turn her head, but Olivia can feel her smile. “I am. I am very happy, Olie.”

Hufflepuff rests her head on her girlfriend's shoulder and puts her hands on hers, taking a deep breath as she relaxes.

Hyejoo trusts her words as she always does, but mainly because Yerim has been more open about her feelings and emotions since her treatment started to take effect, three weeks after it began. At first, Hyejoo didn't much like the idea of mental impulses or daily potions, but Jessica Jung is too good at her job and convinced her to let Jungeun watch the consensus term, as a family member should be aware of the process and they weren’t married yet. 

But it was helping and they are both happy with the results obtained, even though Yerim still has depressive moments and panic attacks. They are less frequent now.

Olivia is doing her part too. She accompanies Yerim to her weekly appointments and takes her out to do something fun later, so that her little head is distracted. She has made her girlfriend run during the weekends to generate endorphins and reduced the crap on their menus, so she won’t be forced to be healthy alone. 

She was about to make a comment on the sand when Yerim moves in her arms until she is facing her, her eyes glued to Hyejoo's and, for Merlin's sake, she loves them so much.

“You’re thinking too loud,” she says. “Care to share?” 

Olivia smiles at that and calmly kisses her girlfriend. “I am thinking that you are the most gorgeous girl in this party, and that we could have much more fun in our room.” 

Yerim’s cheeks go red. “Why are you like this?” She hides her face against Olivia’s skin, but kisses her neck as an answer. “You’re lucky I love you, you know.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” 

She fits the stars for the next moment, watching them shine in the dark sky and feeling the nice breeze touching them. Yerim doesn’t take long to speak again. 

“Olie, what are we still doing here?” 

Hyejoo smirks and they apparate before anyone notices it. But, once Jungeun looks the way they were, she knows they’re happier wherever they are now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope my story didn't trigger anyone and if it did, i am very sorry because that wasn't my intent. 
> 
> if you guys liked it > please < leave kudos and/or comments. i always have so much fun answering them and they really make me feel good about what i write (even though none of you are obliged to do so, i must remember).
> 
> anyways, you all can find me at tumblr here [talk to me](https://hosiexa.tumblr.com/), or at twitter here [i meant it, you can talk to me, i won't bite](https://twitter.com/hosiexa). you can like, send me a meme, or a song. i love music.
> 
> please respect quarantine and take care!!! i know this might be hard, especially for those who have some kind of mental illness, but stay strong! it will end soon enough. we have to have hope, right? you guys can video call your friends, cook something tasty or try new things. i'm always here to listen if someone needs to talk.
> 
> ok, enough of me talking. bye bye babes! be safe!

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you liked it! kisses!
> 
> you can always find me at tumblr [here](https://hosiexa.tumblr.com/) !


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